Moderate gains in the Eurozone pending Fed decisions

LAST UPDATE: 11.00

Most European stock markets are moving slightly higher on Wednesday, with investors looking to the other side of the Atlantic awaiting the decision of the Federal Reserve on its monetary policy, while assessing the data released in the UK on inflation, the who “hit” a 10-year high.

In particular, investors expect the US Federal Reserve to announce today, after the end of the monetary policy meeting, the faster contraction of the bond buying program, in order to pave the way for raising interest rates from 2022. Especially will be given by investors in the latest Fed financial forecasts and officials’ estimates for the course of interest rates in 2022, with analysts not excluding the Fed to make two interest rate hikes next year.

Back to Europe, Inflation in the UK jumped to 5.1% in November, which is the highest level since September 2011, and higher than 4.2% in October. The figures, which exceeded the estimates of all analysts who expected a rise to 4.2%, are expected to cause a headache for the Bank of England.

BoE has said interest rates should be raised to reduce inflation, but suspended the much-anticipated rise in the November meeting because of uncertainty about the impact of the end of the government support program.

The investment climate remains cautious following a warning issued by the World Health Organization on Tuesday that New Coronavirus Omicron Mutation Spreads Faster Than Any Previous Strain, saying that variation is probably present in most countries of the world.

In this climate, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 gains 0.43% to 471 points, with the technology sector adding 1.1% and leading the profits, while the biggest losses are recorded by raw materials, with a fall of 0.6%.

In the individual dashboard, the German DAX strengthened by 0.34% to 15,505 points, the French CAC 40 adds 0.64% to 6,940 points, while the FTSE 100 falls 0.19% to 7,200 points.

On the periphery, the Italian FTSE MIB gains 0.67% to 26,730 points, while the Spanish IBEX 35 slips by 0.24% to 8,360 points.

In the individual shares, the Irish support company DCC marks a “jump” of 5.5% after the acquisition of the American device and electronics company Almo Corporation, a fact that pushed JPMorgan to increase the target price of DCC.

On the other hand, the Belgian retail group Colruyt is down 9.7%, after the announcement of its financial results for the first half.

In the scope of results, the largest clothing retailer in the world, Inditex, consolidated its recovery to pre-pandemic levels, announcing net profit of 2.5 billion euros in the first nine months of the year, 273% higher than the corresponding period of the previous year, as consumers returned en masse to their previous habits.

In addition, H&M, the world’s second largest retailer of clothing, announced that the sales in local currency in the period September-November formed corresponding to the pre-pandemic level. Net sales rose 8% year-on-year to SEK 56.8 billion ($ 6.22 billion) in the fourth quarter, according to estimates.

Meanwhile, mixed signs with mostly negative trends Asia-Pacific stock markets are showing modest losses today as Chinese markets show modest losses while investors assimilate a number of economic data announced by Beijing.