Europe's main stock markets are expected to open lower on Wednesday, in a session that will once again be marked by questions about interest rates, as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is due to publish the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting later this evening.

Index futures suggest a decline of 0.36% for the CAC 40 in Paris, 0.30% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.31% for the FTSE 100 in London and 0.38% for the EuroStoxx 50.

The latest PMI indicators for the month of February in both Europe and the United States showed a still buoyant economy, particularly in services, despite accelerated interest rate hikes by central banks to curb demand in the face of inflation still deemed too high.

In Germany, European-standard inflation for January was confirmed on Wednesday at 0.5% month-on-month and 9.2% year-on-year. Investors are now awaiting the business climate indices for France and Germany.

The Fed, for its part, will publish the "minutes" of its February 1st meeting at 19:00 GMT, as the latest figures for the US job market and consumer prices show greater-than-expected robustness.

"Every time the market tries to convince itself that the Fed will soon lift its foot on its restrictive policy, it is contradicted by the fact that this probably won't happen for the next six months or so," notes Tom Plumb, portfolio manager at Plumb Balanced Fund.

In addition to macroeconomic concerns, financial publications from major groups such as Danone, Stellantis, Eiffage, Rio Tinto, Nvidia and eBay are expected to drive trading.

STOCKS TO WATCH :

AT WALL STREET

The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Tuesday, led by a decline in major technology stocks, as data showing a rebound in US activity in February fueled fears that the Fed would proceed with a larger-than-expected rate hike.

The Dow Jones index lost 2.06%, or 697.10 points, to 33,129.59.

The broader S&P-500 lost 81.75 points, or 2.00%, to 3,997.34.

The Nasdaq Composite fell by 294.97 points, or 2.50%, to 11,492.30.

This was the worst session for Wall Street's main indices since the start of the year: the Dow Jones having now wiped out all its gains of 2023, while the Nasdaq and S&P-500 finished in the red for a third consecutive session.

ASIA

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index ended Wednesday down 1.34% at 27,104.32 points, while the broader Topix gave up 1.11% at 1,975.25 points.

In China, the Shanghai SSE Composite gave up 0.43% and the CSI 300 lost 0.86%.

The MSCI index of Asian and Pacific stocks (excluding Japan) was down 0.91%.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

The dollar, which gained 0.3% on Tuesday, weakened slightly (-0.05%) on Wednesday against a basket of reference currencies.

The Japanese currency was trading at 134.75 yen to the dollar, having hit a two-month low of 135.23 the previous day.

The euro is trading at 1.0657 dollars (+0.1%).

New Zealand's currency is up 0.3% at $0.6232, after rising as high as $0.6248 in reaction to Wednesday's rate hike by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) of 50 basis points to 4.75%, a 14-year high.

RATES

The yield on ten-year US Treasuries was stable after rising as high as 3.96%, the highest since November.

The yield on the ten-year German Bund was virtually unchanged at 2.54%, having gained nearly eight basis points the previous day.

In Japan, the ten-year JGB yield reached 0.505% for the second consecutive session, above the 0.50% ceiling set by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), prompting the central bank to declare that it would proceed with emergency bond purchases.

OIL

Oil prices retreated in the face of a possible rise in interest rates, which is likely to affect demand: Brent lost 0.41% to $82.71 a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 0.5% to $75.98.

MAIN ECONOMIC INDICATORS ON THE AGENDA FOR FEBRUARY 22

COUNTRY GMT INDICATOR PERIOD PREVIOUS CONSENSUS

FR 07h45 Business climate index February 103 103

in industry (Insee)

DE 09h00 Ifo business climate index February 91.2 90.2

business

*first estimate

*first estimate

THE MARKET SITUATION:

(Some data may be slightly delayed)

BOURSES

ASIA

Indices Last Var. Var. % YTD

points

Nikkei-225 27104.32 -368.78 -1.34% +3.87%

Topix 1975.25 -22.21 -1.11% +4.42%

Hong Kong 20464.27 -65.22 -0.32% +3.45%

Taiwan 15418.77 -144.23 -0.93% +9.06%

Seoul 2417.68 -41.28 -1.68% +8.11% Seoul

Singapore 3300.37 -6.49 -0.20% +1.51

Shanghai 3292.16 -14.36 -0.43% +6.57

Sydney 7314.50 -21.80 -0.30% +3.92%

Tokyo close:

[.TFR]

WALL STREET

Previous closing :

Indices Last Var. Var. % YTD

points

Dow Jones 33129.59 -697.10 -2.06% -0.05%

S&P-500 3997.34 -81.75 -2.00% +4.11%

Nasdaq 11492.30 -294.97 -2.50% +9.80%

Nasdaq 100 12060.30 -297.89 -2.41% +10.24%

Wall Street session in detail

WALL STREET: [.NFR]

"The Day Ahead" - The next update

Wall Street session [DAY/US]

MARKETS

EUROPE

CAC 40 and EuroStoxx50 futures

Stocks to watch in Paris and in

Europe: [WATCH/LFR]

Previous session :

Indices Close Var. Var. % YTD

points

Eurofirst 300 1831.43 -3.66 -0.20% +9.12

Eurostoxx 50 4,250.40 -20.78 -0.49% +12.04

CAC 40 7308.65 -26.96 -0.37% +12.90%

Dax 30 15397.62 -79.93 -0.52% +10.59%

FTSE 7977.75 -36.56 -0.46% +7.06%

SMI 11282.16 +15.48 +0.14% +5.15%

CHANGES

Price Watch Var. % YTD

Euro/Dlr 1.0655 1.0646 +0.08% -0.44%

Delr/Yen 134.74 134.99 -0.19% +2.77

Euro/Yen 143.61 143.77 -0.11% +2.36

Dlr/CHF 0.9261 0.9277 -0.17% +0.18%

Euro/CHF 0.9869 0.9876 -0.07% -0.26%

Stg/Dlr 1.2112 1.2115 -0.02% +0.12%

Index $ 104.0960 104.1760 -0.08% +8.24%

RATES

Last Var. Spread/Bund

(pts)

Bund 10 years 2.5400 +0.0020

Bund 2 years 2.9510 +0.0000

OAT 10 years 3.0200 +0.0010 +48.00

Treasury 10 yrs 3.9351 -0.0180

Treasury 2 years 4.6643 -0.0400

OIL

(in dollars) Price Previous Var Var.% YTD

US light crude 75.97 76.36 -0.39 -0.51% +24.11

Brent 82.72 83.05 -0.33 -0.40% +25.28% Brent

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Bertrand Boucey and Kate Entringer)

by Claude Chendjou