(ABM FN) The Brussels stock exchange is expected to have a more or less neutral opening on Friday.
On Thursday, the Bel20 rose 0.6 percent to 4,226.97 points.
Wall Street will be closed today in observance of Christmas Eve, as will the stock markets in Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The Belgian and London stock exchanges usually close early.
On Wall Street, the main indices completed a nice three-day rebound on Thursday evening with a close to all-time high for the index of the 500 largest American companies, the S&P 500. In the trading days before that, equity markets were under considerable pressure due to concerns about the spread of the virus. the omikron variant.
On Thursday, however, American investors took advantage of positive macro data and encouraging news about the omikron variant of the corona virus. New study results suggest that people infected with the variant have a significantly lower risk of being hospitalized than those who contracted previous variants of the virus.
“Investors are slowly coming back to the belief that the omikron variant, despite the stricter measures and lockdowns, will not harm the economic recovery. At most there will be a postponement of economic growth, but no adjustment. That is also the scenario that we are currently seeing. most likely,” said ING investment manager Simon Wiersma.
Concerns about rising inflation and its impact on economic growth will remain a risk factor for the new year.
On Thursday, it was announced that core PCE inflation, the Fed’s main inflation indicator, came in at 4.7 percent in November, down from 4.2 percent in October, and above the 4.5 percent expected by economists.
Inflation will also remain a concern in early 2022, thinks Spartan’s Peter Cardillo. “Inflation will moderate in the second quarter of 2022,” said the market expert. Cardillo also expects the Fed to hold its course as the US labor market continues to recover.
Reports that the disease course of the omikron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than that of previous variants were also positively received by the oil markets. This reduces the chance that large countries will have to go back into lockdown, which would be unfavorable for oil demand.
US oil futures rose more than 2 percent in New York on Thursday evening to $73.79 a barrel. In Asian trading this morning, the future is up 1.4 percent.
Asian stocks remain close to home this morning, trading mostly in the green.
The macroeconomic agenda is empty today.
Company news
Cofinimmo bought a new aftercare and rehabilitation clinic under construction in France. The investment amounts to approximately 17 million euros.
Barclays has announced a larger 3.79 percent stake in Recticel, a transparency notification showed on Thursday evening.
Wall Street closing positions
The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent on Thursday, ending at an all-time high of 4,725.79 points. The Dow Jones index gained 0.6 percent at 35,950.56 points and the Nasdaq ended 0.9 percent in the plus at 15,653.37 points.
Bron: ABM Financial News
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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