Bel20 probably started considerably lower

(ABM FN) The Brussels stock exchange is expected to have a lower opening on Monday. Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 index pointed to a loss of 1 percent about an hour before the stock market bell. On Wall Street, the main indicator S&P 500 closed 0.8 percent in the red on Friday evening, while the Asian stock markets were unanimously lower this morning.

The Bel20 index closed almost unchanged on Friday at 4,155.08 points. The index closed the previous week at 4,183.51 points.

ING investment manager Simon Wiersma noted that the equity rally of recent months has lost momentum. “The sky-high expectations for the quarterly figures offer little room for setbacks,” warned Wiersma.

For the companies in the S&P 500 index, an average profit growth of almost 64 percent is expected for the second quarter compared to last year. “So the bar is set very high,” according to Wiersma.

However, this estimate of profitability is still too low, according to analyst Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research. Analysts are forecasting record profits, but their estimates are still too low and the market knows that” and “this earnings season will be much, much better than expected,” the analyst predicts.

Investment strategist Jonathan Golub of investment bank Credit Suisse is on the same page as Colas. He predicts that “earnings per share” [voor de S&P aandelen] will grow by 75 percent, led by robust gains for financials and cyclicals.”

However, business channel CNBC calculated at the end of the past trading week that the reception of better-than-expected company figures has so far been lukewarm. Last week, 18 companies that make up the S&P 500 reported better-than-expected numbers, but on average, shares fell 0.58 percent after submitting those numbers.

Market analyst Michael Hewson of CMC Markets explained the tame market reaction by stressing that investors are already looking beyond the current quarter. “There was a lot of optimism about the reopening in the summer, but looking ahead to the rest of the year and seeing how the number of infections with the delta variant increases, it raises the question of where we are going for earnings expectations for the third year. quarter,” Hewson said.

After last week mainly financials came through with figures on Wall Street, today it is IBM and PPG Industries, among others, to convince American investors. Reports later this week include Netflix, Intel, Coca-Cola and Philip Morris.

On Wall Street, the main indices followed the trail of European stock markets earlier in the trading day on Friday evening, with losses as low as 1 percent.

On a weekly basis, the three indices also lost ground, after inflation in the US for June turned out to have risen more than expected. The Federal Reserve, through Chairman Jerome Powell, reaffirmed that this is temporary and that the central bank remains accommodative.

In Asia, the main indices are united in the red this morning. The negative outliers are the stock exchanges in Tokyo and Shanghai with losses of approximately 1.5 percent.

The US oil future also lost 1 percent this morning after the energy ministers of the countries that are members of OPEC + reached an agreement on their production policy during a virtual meeting on Sunday.

The cartel will increase production by 400,000 barrels per day every month from August until the end of September 2022. Last year, OPEC+ made a record production cut of 10 million barrels per day after oil demand fell sharply due to the pandemic.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate fell nearly 4 percent in value last week as a deal was in sight, closing Friday at $71.81 a barrel.

The macroeconomic agenda has traditionally been sparsely filled on Monday. Provisional confidence among American homebuilders will, however, be released in July.

Company news

Barco saw the order book thicken considerably in the first half of the year, although turnover increased only slightly due to the ongoing crisis.

Bekaert expects to have performed significantly better in the first half of this year than previously expected and forecast by analysts. Bekaert spoke of a strong recovery in volume and a very strong valuation of inventories due to higher raw material prices.

Bone Therapeutics is making good progress with its research on osteoarthritic knee pain, but is experiencing delays in its study in injection for fractures. Bone Therapeutics reported progress on both its Phase III clinical trial with its viscosupplement, JTA-004, targeting osteoarthritic knee pain, and its Phase IIb trial with its allogeneic cell therapy product, ALLOB, to heal fractures in patients.

Umicore announced that An Steegen, Chief Technology Officer and member of the Board of Directors, will leave the company on September 30, 2021. Steegen becomes co-CEO of Barco. Steegen’s succession will be announced at a later date, Umicore said. In addition to Steegen, Charles Beauduin will also become Barco’s co-CEO. CEO Jan de Witte will step down as CEO of Barco on 1 September this year.

Wall Street closing positions

The S&P 500 index fell 0.8 percent Friday at a close of 4,327.16 points, the Dow Jones index lost 0.9 percent to 34,687.85 points and the Nasdaq lost 0.8 percent at 14,427.24 points.

ABM Financial News; [email protected]; Redactie: +31(0)20 26 28 999.

From Beursplein 5, the editors of ABM Financial News keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam stock exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.

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