Ahead of the US election and central bank meetings, European equities are mixed and cautious

European stock markets opened the week with modest fluctuations as investors prepared for a busy agenda, including the U.S. presidential election, interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, and more quarterly earnings reports.

As of 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), Germany's DAX index was down 0.1%, while France's CAC 40 also fell by 0.1%. In contrast, the FTSE 100 in the U.K. gained 0.2%.

Focus on the U.S. Election and Central Banks
European equities began the week cautiously, with attention turning to Tuesday's U.S. presidential election. Early voting has already commenced in what is expected to be a tightly contested race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, a contest likely to have significant implications for fiscal policy and global trade.

Additionally, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which wraps up on Thursday. The market anticipates a 25 basis point rate cut following Friday's nonfarm payroll report, which indicated that job growth nearly stalled in October due to strikes and adverse weather conditions.

In Europe, the Bank of England will also meet on Thursday, where a 25 basis point rate cut is expected after it reduced rates for the first time in over four years in August. The Swedish Riksbank and Norway’s Norges Bank will hold their own policy meetings this week as well.

The week’s economic data includes final European manufacturing purchasing managers' index figures for October, which are expected to highlight the ongoing struggles within the region’s manufacturing sector.

Ryanair Reports Decline in First-Half Profit
Earnings reports begin this week with Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline. The airline announced an 18% year-on-year decline in first-half profits, attributed to a 10% drop in average fares. However, it noted that current quarter bookings appear strong and that the decline in ticket prices is stabilizing. Ryanair indicated that average fares for the ongoing quarter would be "modestly lower" compared to the same period last year, although its stock fell by 3%.

Crude Prices Rise Following OPEC+ Delay
Oil prices experienced a notable increase on Monday after OPEC+, a coalition of oil-producing nations, postponed a planned output increase in December by at least one month, citing weak demand pressures on prices. By 03:05 ET, the Brent crude contract was up 1.6% at $74.25 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) rose 1.7% to $70.70 per barrel. OPEC+ announced on Sunday that it would again delay a planned output increase of 180,000 barrels per day for at least a month. This marks the second extension of a 2.2 million barrels per day cut, highlighting concerns among producers about global demand. Both crude contracts had seen declines of over 3% last week due to record U.S. output contributing to demand fears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paraphrasing text from "Investing" all rights reserved by the original author.