(ABM FN) The Brussels stock exchange is expected to start in the red on Thursday. Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 index pointed to a loss of several tenths of a percent about an hour before the gong.
On Wall Street, major indices lost ground on Wednesday night after the Federal Reserve hinted at two rate hikes in 2023.
The Brussels stock exchange closed slightly higher on Wednesday, despite the pandering for Colruyt. The Bel20 index gained 0.1 percent at 4,226.29 points.
On Wednesday evening, as expected, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged around zero. However, a majority of members do foresee two interest rate hikes in 2023. In the interest rate decision of March, it was still expected that no rate hikes would take place until 2024.
This twist was accompanied by an upward revision of the 2023 inflation rate of 0.1 percentage point, bringing the 2023 forecast to 2.2 percent. For the current year, inflation is expected to be 3.4 percent, compared to 2.4 percent in March. The estimate for 2022 was revised upwards from 2.0 to 2.1 percent.
A minority of 5 out of 11 policymakers still foresee that interest rates will not be raised until 2024.
Market reaction to interest rate decision
The main indicator of the S&P 500 rippled towards the interest rate decision on Wednesday evening without major results, only to give up almost 1 percent after the release. After that, the loss was completely made up for, after which the index lost ground again in the last quarter of trading. In the end, the main index closed half a percent lower.
The euro/dollar currency pair also showed a fairly strong movement. The rising US interest rate expectation went hand in hand with a strengthening dollar. Prior to the race decision, the euro/dollar was trading at 1.2120, while this morning there was a reading of 1.1997 on the boards.
In Asia, the main indices are mostly lower this morning, but only the Nikkei index in Tokyo is really losing ground with a loss of more than 1 percent. The Chinese stock markets are trading in the green.
A July future for a barrel of crude oil closed almost unchanged on Wednesday evening at $72.15 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. At the beginning of this year, the future was still below $50.
Investors today are eyeing, among other things, inflation in the eurozone in May and weekly US requests for support.
Company news
Argen-X published positive results on the efficacy of the drug efgartigimod against the muscle disease myasthenia gravis in the journal The Lancet Neurology.
Mithra has completed the recruitment of patients suffering from Covid-19 into a Phase 2 study following positive safety news.
Marc Coucke has fallen below the notification threshold of 5 percent at Fagron, after the magisterial preparer issued new shares.
VGP and Allianz Real Estate have sold four logistics buildings to their joint venture VGP European Logistics for EUR 68.2 million.
Smartphoto reported having had a strong first quarter, but saw the demand for books and prints fall in April and May. The photo company expects to be able to realize more turnover and a higher EBITDA this year.
Wall Street closing positions
The S&P 500 index fell 0.5 percent to 4,223.70 points on Wednesday, the Dow Jones index lost 0.8 percent to 34,033.67 points and the Nasdaq closed 0.2 percent lower at 14,039.68 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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