European Markets Seen Ushering In New Week On A Weak Note

(RTTNews) - A weak sentiment is expected to prevail in stock markets across Europe at the onset of the new week which would witness interest rate decisions by the Federal Reserve, Bank of England as well as Bank of Japan. Market mood is expected to be impacted by the rate hike expectations from the Federal Reserve as well as Bank of Japan. The selloff in AI stocks attributed to the recent calls for a slowdown in development of AI technologies as well as the jump in crude oil prices are also expected to weigh on sentiment.

Wall Street had closed on a strong positive note on Friday, amidst the relief provided by declining crude oil prices and easing treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.98 percent to finish trading at 52,573.29. The S&P 500 gained 0.86 percent to finish trading at 7,656.98. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.96 percent to close trading at 26,333.04.

Major European markets too had finished trading on a positive note on Friday amidst easing bond yields and declining crude oil prices. The pan-European Stoxx-50 jumped 0.90 percent to finish trading at 6,325.13. Germany's DAX surged 0.82 percent to end trading at 25,568.56. France's CAC 40 gained 0.78 percent to close at 8,179.77. Switzerland's SMI also strengthened 0.26 percent to close trading at 13,775.27.

Current indications from the European stock futures indicate a mixed sentiment. The DAX Futures (Dec) and the pan-European Stoxx 50 Futures (Dec) are trading 0.32 percent below the flatline. The CAC 40 Futures (Oct) has dropped 0.09 percent. The SMI Futures (Dec) is trading 0.31 percent above the flatline followed by the FTSE 100 Futures (Dec) that has rallied 0.29 percent from the flatline.

American stock futures are trading in negative territory. The US 30 (DJIA) is trading 0.12 percent lower, whereas the US500 (S&P 500) is trading 0.53 percent below the flatline.

Asian stock markets are trading on a mostly negative note as markets digested the demand for a deceleration in AI development. The spike in global crude oil prices as well as the sticky inflation readings from the U.S. also weighed heavily on sentiment. South Korea's KOSPI has plunged close to 3 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 has lost 0.90 percent. DJ New Zealand has shed 0.40 percent. China's Shanghai Composite has dropped 0.06 percent. Australia's S&P ASX 200 has edged up 0.04 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng has edged up 0.07 percent.

Amidst renewed fears of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, the U.S. dollar has gained close to a quarter percent. The Dollar Index, a measure of the U.S. dollar's strength relative to six currencies, is currently trading at 99.34, rallying 0.22 percent from 99.12 at the previous close.

The EUR/USD pair has slipped 0.29 percent to trade at 1.1565 whereas the GBP/USD pair has dropped 0.18 percent to trade at 1.3503. The USD/CHF pair has rallied 0.22 percent to trade at 0.8183. The EUR/GBP pair is trading 0.10 percent lower at 0.8565. The EUR/JPY pair has slipped 0.04 percent to 178.08, and the GBP/JPY pair has added 0.07 percent to 207.93.

Both the crude oil benchmarks have jumped amidst escalation in hostilities in the Middle East. Brent Crude Futures for November settlement is trading at $107.24, around 2.5 percent higher than $104.61 at the previous close. WTI Crude Futures for October settlement is currently trading at $102.62, having rallied 2.6 percent from $100.05 at the previous close.

Hotter-than-expected inflation readings from the U.S. and the spike in crude oil prices have renewed fears of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Dampened by the rate worries, gold futures for December settlement have slipped 0.86 percent from the previous closing level of $4,408.90. It is currently trading at $4,370.84.

No major economic data releases are due from the region on Monday. Markets would however be looking out for monetary policy cues from speeches of key ECB officials including ECB President Christine Lagarde.

Major updates to earnings due from the region on Monday include SESA, Greencoat Renewables, GlobalData, Big Technologies, Keystone Law Group, as well as Pantheon Resources.