(ABM FN) The Belgian stock market is expected to start lower on Friday. Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 index pointed to a loss of half a percent about an hour before the stock exchange bell.
The Brussels stock exchange ended three days of declines on Thursday. The Bel20 rose by 0.7 percent to 3,478.91 points. The star index saw profits decline slightly towards the end of the trading day and the star index fell below 3,500 points again.
In Europe, the main indexes continued to extend their gains throughout the trading day on Thursday, to roughly 1.0 percent. Investment manager Simon Wiersma of ING noted that the stock markets are benefiting from the continued decline in interest rates. “The further interest rates fall, the more positive the mood on the stock markets,” says Wiersma.
On Wall Street, however, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell put an end to the optimistic mood on Thursday evening.
It is still too early for the Federal Reserve to put a definitive end to the historic rate hikes of the past two years, Powell said at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, although he did not advocate new rate hikes at this time. .
The Fed raised interest rates this year to their highest level in 22 years to combat inflation by slowing economic activity. The US central bank aims for an interest rate that is “sufficiently restrictive” to bring inflation back to the 2 percent target over time.
“We are not confident that we have achieved this yet,” Powell said Thursday.
The Fed kept interest rates at current levels last week and its next meeting is scheduled for mid-December. Powell left the door wide open on Thursday to maintain the federal funds rate again at the current level of 5.25 to 5.50 percent.
Price pressure in the United States has decreased this year and according to Powell, the Fed is happy with this progress, but it will be a challenge to get inflation to the 2 percent target in a sustainable manner.
“We know that sustained progress toward our 2 percent target is not guaranteed. Inflation has fooled us a few times,” he warned.
The main indices on Wall Street were virtually unchanged in the run-up to Powell’s speech, before falling sharply. The S&P ultimately closed 0.8 percent in the red, while the Nasdaq tech exchange lost just one percent.
The Asian stock markets are also turning red this morning, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong as a negative outlier with a loss of one and a half percent. Sydney and Shanghai lose about half a percent.
US oil futures closed half a percent higher at $75.74 in New York on Thursday evening.
Investors today are paying attention, among other things, to the release of the provisional American consumer confidence in November.
Company news
Aperam saw profitability under pressure in the third quarter, as had been warned. Adjusted EBITDA fell from 235 million to 19 million euros, as analysts had expected. Aperam expects an increase for the current fourth quarter, despite the difficult market conditions, especially in Europe.
Sofina completed a share buyback program on November 8. Under the program, 100,000 own shares were purchased for a total of 18.5 million euros.
Intervest’s EPRA result fell from EUR 35.4 million in the first nine months of 2022 to EUR 31.9 million. The EPRA result per share fell from 1.34 euros a year ago to 1.07 euros at the end of September. The net result amounted to 32.9 million euros. Intervest pointed to the increased interest rate as an explanation for the lower results. Last month, Intervest reported that a voluntary offer had been made for all its shares of 21.00 euros per share by TPG.
Bpost achieved less revenue in the third quarter than analysts had expected. Referring to the continued unfavorable market conditions, Bpost ended the July to September period with a decline in operating revenues of 4.2 percent to 978.5 million euros. The analyst consensus expected 982.1 million euros. Now that all compliance investigations have been completed and Bpost has a clearer view of the financial impact, the postal company reiterated its 2023 EBIT guidance.
Pharmaceutical company UCB raised 300 million euros with the issuance of bonds. The interest was so great that UCB closed the registration period early. UCB wanted to raise 100 to 300 million euros. The bonds have a term of six years and a fixed coupon of 5.2 percent. In the coming days, UCB will present new research results in San Diego, USA, showing that treatment with Bimzelx in patients with ankylosing spondylitis produces benefits over a period of five years.
Atenor is launching a capital increase with statutory preferential rights for existing shareholders of up to 32.2 million shares for an amount of up to 160.9 million euros. The issue takes place through the creation of new shares at an issue price of 5.00 euros each.
Berenberg lowered the price target for KBC from 63.00 to 60.00 euros, while maintaining the Hold recommendation, after KBC presented quarterly figures on Thursday.
Wall Street closing positions
The S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent to 4,347.35 points on Thursday, the Dow Jones index lost 0.7 percent to 33,891.94 points and the Nasdaq closed 0.9 percent lower at 13,521.45 points.
Source: ABM Financial News
ABM Financial News is a supplier of stock market news, video and data, both for real-time trading platforms and dealing rooms and for online and offline media publications. The information in this article is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.
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