LONDON – European stocks are expected to open Wednesday lower, continuing the region’s downtrend this week.
UK FTSE The index is 26 points lower at 7,394, Germany’s DAX down 34 points to 13,421, of France CAC 40 down 29 points at 6,385 and in Italy FTSE MIB Down 44 points at 22,290, according to data from IG.
The lower open for European stocks comes after markets eased slightly on Tuesday, tracking risk sentiment globally as investors gauge whether last month’s rally will continue to run. are not.
In the United States, the three major averages fell for the second day in a row yesterday, though Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were higher last night.
In normal hour trading, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan weighed heavily on investors, who feared it would further strain already strained US-China relations. China spent weeks warning her not to make the trip.
Markets fall deeper after three Federal Reserve chairmen suggests that further rate hikes will be necessary to combat high inflation.
Overnight, shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher on Wednesday, with mainland China leading the gains despite Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, which is being closely watched by Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying tweeted that Pelosi’s visit was a “major political provocation”, while a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said they would proceed. “a series of military operations around the island of Taiwan from the evening of August 2.” Those activities included long-range combat live-fire firing in the Taiwan Strait and conventional missile fire test launches, the statement said.
It was a busy day for earnings in Europe, with Commerzbank, SocGen, BMW, Banco BPM, Siemens Healthineers and Veolia and Wolters Kluwer among those companies reporting. On the data front, euro zone producer prices and retail sales data for June will be released.
– CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel and Abigail Ng contributed to this report.
