Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

European stock futures mixed; subdued trading ahead of PMIs, retail sales

Published 05/12/2022, 07:18
Updated 05/12/2022, 07:18
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open in a tepid fashion Monday, as investors digest more Chinese cities relaxing mobility restrictions as well as the release of more important regional economic data.

At 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% lower, CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.1%.

European equities are set to start the week in a subdued fashion, with investors set to focus on the release of the final November PMI data for the region, which are set to show the Eurozone heading into a recession as the year comes to an end.

Eurozone retail sales for October are also due for release, and are expected to fall 1.7% on the month with discretionary spending severely hit by soaring inflation.

Despite these signs of European economies in strife, the European Central Bank is still expected to hike interest rates at its final policy meeting of the year on Dec. 15 with inflation running well above its 2% target.

President Christine Lagarde is to make two appearances this week before the start of the ECB’s blackout period, and investors will be looking to see if she hints at a 50-basis point rate increase, after data last week showed that Eurozone inflation eased more than expected in November.

This caution means the European markets are unlikely to follow the positive trend seen in Asia after a number of Chinese cities joined the important economic hubs Shanghai and Beijing in relaxing some mobility and testing measures.

This raised hopes for a nationwide reversal of the country’s strict ‘zero-COVID’ stance, which has contributed to the slowing of China’s economic recovery.

“The timing of a major COVID policy change may be a bit earlier than our baseline expectation of after March 2023,” analysts at UBS said in a note on Monday.

In the corporate sector, Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) is likely to be in the spotlight Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is considering an investment of around $500 million to back the embattled Swiss lender’s investment bank.

Crude oil prices firmed Monday on optimism of a broad relaxation of China’s COVID restrictions while OPEC+ maintained its output targets over the weekend.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, decided to stick to the October plan to cut output by 2 million barrels per day from November, waiting to see the impact of the EU import ban and Group of Seven $60-a-barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil, which came into force Monday.

By 02:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.7% higher at $80.50 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.6% to $86.06. 

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,815.05/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.0564.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.