European bourses are expected to open on a restrained note on the last day of the week amidst the conflict and combat in Ukraine that continues unabated. The Wall Street had rallied on Thursday as the West imposed several retaliatory sanctions on Russia. The Nasdaq-100 had gained 3.44 percent to close at 13974.67 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had moved up 0.28 percent to end at 33,223.83 and this rally which has charged up Friday’s Asian rally could however spill-over to up the sentiment in Friday’s European trade.
On Thursday, European markets had plunged amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Germany’s DAX lost 3.96 percent, U.K.’s FTSE 100 shed 3.88 percent, France’s CAC 40 declined 3.83 percent, the pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 3.28 percent, and Switzerland’s SMI shed 2.56 percent.
The CAC Futures (March) is currently trading 2.26 percent lower. The FTSE 100 futures for March is trading 1.27 percent higher. The DAX Futures for March is trading 0.44 percent higher.
Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the Dollar against a basket of six currencies has fallen to 96.85, from 97.14 at the close on Thursday. The EURUSD pair has increased 0.25 percent to 1.1219, while the GBPUSD pair has increased by 0.37 percent to 1.3425 in tandem with the fall in the Dollar. The USD Russian Ruble rate (USD/RUB) hovered near 84.7934 after ranging between 84.0018 and 85.7948.
Gold futures for April settlement is trading at $1917.95 per troy ounce, about 0.43 percent lower than the previous close of $1,926.30.
WTI Crude for April settlement is trading at $94.72, up 2.06 percent from the previous close whereas Brent Crude for May settlement is trading at $97.52, up 2.20 percent from the previous close.
American futures point to negative trends, with the US 30 (DJIA) index down 0.45 percent and US500 (S&P 500) down 0.58 percent.
Asian markets are mostly in positive territory, following Wall Street’s brilliant rally overnight. India’s Nifty 50 has rallied 2.6 percent; Japan’s Nikkei 225 has rallied 1.95 percent; New Zealand’s NZX 50 has gained 1.63 percent; South Korean Kospi has gained 1.06 percent; China’s Shanghai Composite is up 0.43 percent; Australia’s S&P ASX 200 has edged up 0.10 percent, whereas Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 0.65 percent.
Meanwhile. Date showed that U.K.’s GfK Consumer Confidence indicator dropped to a 13 month-low of -26 in February 2022 versus -19 in January and expectations of -18 as persistently high inflation impacted sentiment. The ongoing semiconductor shortage continued to cause disruption as is reflected in the 20.1 percent fall in U.K.’s car production numbers.
Germany awaits final Q4 GDP readings as well as import price indicators for the month of January.
France is anticipating the preliminary inflation readings for February. Consensus estimate is for the y-o-y inflation to have increased to 3.2 percent, from 2.9 percent in the previous month. France is also awaiting the final GDP readings for Q4. February’s Harmonised Inflation rate, as well as Household Consumption, Producer Prices, Unemployment Benefit Claims and Total Jobseekers for January are due later in the day.
Euro Area economic indicators scheduled for release during the day are Loans to Households and Companies, M3 Money Supply for January as well as Economic Sentiment, Industrial Sentiment, Selling Price Expectations, Services Sentiment, Consumer Confidence and Consumer Inflation Expectations for February. The Economic Sentiment is seen rising to 113.1 from 112.7 in the previous month. ECB President Lagarde’s speech would also be keenly watched for cues on monetary policy stance.
Business News
European Stocks Seen Cautious On Opening
2022-02-25 06:46:55
