(ABM FN-Dow Jones) Amsterdam stocks should start slightly lower on Thursday. AEX index futures are down 0.2% about an hour before the gong.
The AEX also managed to close the third trading day of 2023 on Wednesday, up 1.4 percent to 717.51 points. This year, the profit for the main index is already more than four percent. The major German and French indices gained more than two percent on Wednesday.
Positive sentiment in Europe was fueled by a sharp decline in interest rates on Wednesday, following, among other things, better-than-expected purchasing managers’ indexes for the eurozone’s services sector and French inflation data, which showed deflation of 0.1 percent MoM in December.
On Wall Street, enthusiasm was dampened Wednesday night by, among other things, the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision. The minutes confirmed that further interest rate hikes can be expected and that none of the politicians are considering a rate cut before the end of this year.
Earlier in the day, the ISM US manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell from 49.0 to 48.4 in December, indicating a stronger contraction in the manufacturing sector than in November.
In New York, the S&P 500 leading gauge eventually moved higher, but profit was capped at three-quarters of a percentage point, after a loss of just under half a percentage point on Tuesday.
The positive sentiment in the equity markets contrasted with the strongly negative sentiment among oil investors. February futures for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude closed more than 5% lower Wednesday night at $72.84 a barrel. According to analysts, the decline is linked to fears of a global recession and a wave of coronavirus in China.
Investors fear, among other things, that China will have to reverse its easing of corona rules, because the number of infections is rising too quickly. Other countries are therefore now wary of allowing the Chinese inside.
The price of oil is still above $70, which according to AvaTrade’s Naaem Aslam is a crucial support level. It therefore does not rule out a new “race” to the top.
There will be weekly data on US oil inventories on Thursday. Analysts expect an average increase of 4.5 million barrels of crude oil.
In Asia, most stock markets are quiet this morning with modest gains. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is convincing with an increase of more than one and a half percent.
Investors are also eyeing today’s release of the weekly US aid statements and ADP’s jobs report, which is seen as a prelude to the official US jobs report to be released tomorrow.
In November, the US labor market proved to be resilient surprisingly well, despite high inflation, among other things, undermining consumers’ purchasing power.
Company news
US investment bank JPMorgan raised its price target for KPN from EUR 4.20 to EUR 4.40, maintaining the Overweight recommendation. Jefferies continues to find European bank stocks attractive and ING is one of the sector favorites with a price target of EUR 16.20.
Wall Street closing positions
The S&P 500 closed up 0.7% at 3,852.97 points on Wednesday. The Dow Jones index rose 0.4% to 33,269.77 and the Nasdaq tech stock rose 0.7% to 10,458.76 points.
Bron: ABM Financial News
From Beursplein 5, the editorial staff of ABM Financial News closely follows the performance of the stock exchanges, in particular that of Amsterdam. The information in this column is not intended to be professional investment advice or a recommendation for making any particular investment.
