Wall Street is expected to rise and European stock markets advance sharply at mid-session, investors regaining risk appetite thanks to a lull in the bond markets, with the adoption of the American stimulus plan by the House of Representatives and the latest news on the coronavirus vaccine front.
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→ In Brussels, the BEL 20 takes 1.53%. Elsewhere in Europe, the CAC 40 gained 1.21%, the FTSE 100 1.33% and in Frankfurt, the Dax advanced 0.8%. The EuroStoxx 50 index is up 1.09%, the FTSEurofirst 300 1.3% and the Stoxx 600 1.29%.
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→ Futures contracts on the main New York indices are showing an increase of almost 1% for the Dow Jones, as for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and of more than 1.3% for the Nasdaq.
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The rebound in European equities is benefiting all sectors of the quotation, the most sustained increases being for the transport and recreation (+ 2.75%), raw materials (+ 2.16%) and the distribution (+2,01%).
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The fall in bond yields that started on Friday continues even though it has slowed down over the hours: that of US Treasuries is now down by less than 1.5 basis points, to 1.441%, after briefly falling below 1.4%, while its German equivalent has fallen by more than four points to -0.302%. The latter took 26 basis points over the whole of February, its largest monthly increase since January 2018.
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The return of appetite for risk and the prospect of a widening of US deficits to finance the recovery do not prevent the dollar from gaining ground against other major currencies (+ 0.20%), starting with the euro, which drops 0.27% to $ 1.2042, the lowest since February 18. This continued weakness of the single European currency can be explained, among other things, by expectations of an intensification of ECB bond purchases to slow the rise in financing costs.
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