Market Analytics and Technical Considerations
Investors digested the minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting Thursday ahead of a gauge of German business confidence and the account of the most recent ECB meeting, which led to mixed results on European stock markets.
The DAX index in Germany was up 0.7 percent at 03:40 ET (08:40 GMT), the CAC 40 in France was up 0.4 percent, and the FTSE 100 in the United Kingdom was down 0.1 percent.
The FOMC meeting minutes from the beginning of November raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve would slow down its aggressive rate hikes in the future.
After four increases of 75 basis points, investors now largely anticipate that the Fed will raise interest rates by 50 basis points to 4.25 percent-4.5% at the policy meeting in December.
Later in the session, the European Central Bank publishes the minutes of its most recent meeting. The policymakers are in a difficult position because inflation in the Eurozone has risen above 10% and the flash November PMI readings suggest the region has entered a recession.
Investors want to know how much confidence investors have in Germany’s Ifo Business Climate index for November, which is also due later in the session.
Additionally, several ECB speakers, including Vice President Luis de Guindos, Board member Andrea Enria, and Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel, are scheduled to speak.
In news about businesses, Jet2 (LON: After the leisure airline stated that it now expects annual pretax profit to exceed estimates following a surge in half-year earnings fueled by solid customer demand, the stock of JET2) increased by 3.7%.
Cointreau Remy (EPA:RCOP) stock dropped 2.9% after the drinks company said that after two years of “exceptional growth,” the second half of its fiscal year would show normal consumption trends.
The Kingfisher Even though the home improvement retailer reported a slight improvement in its third-quarter like-for-like sales, the company lowered the top end of its guidance for full-year 2022/23 pretax profit, causing the stock of KGF) to fall by 2%.
As traders digested the proposed price cap on Russian oil from the Group of Seven countries, crude oil prices fell on Thursday, continuing the selloff from the previous session.
According to reports on Wednesday, the G7 is considering setting a cap of $65-$70 a barrel for Russian seaborne oil. However, further discussions are scheduled for later Thursday as this has not yet been agreed upon.
The range is thought to be less likely to provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin into disrupting global supply because it is higher than what the markets had anticipated.
The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories decreased by 3.7 million barrels last week, exceeding expectations, but that inventories of gasoline and distillate significantly increased.
U.S. crude futures were down 0.4 percent at $77.61 a barrel by 03:40 ET, while the Brent contract was down 0.6 percent at $84.87.Last session, both contracts dropped more than 3%.
Additionally, EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.0414, while gold futures increased 0.6% to $1,756.35/oz.
Diverse stocks in Europe; Before the German Ifo is released, Jet2 soars.
