No race spectacle, except at Solvay and Tessenderlo

(ABM FN) The Brussels stock exchange is taking it easy on Wednesday. The Bel20 index was unchanged at 3,829 points around half past ten.

Investors’ attention is primarily focused on the European inflation figures, which are scheduled for 11am. In the US, central bankers at the Federal Reserve want more evidence that inflation is indeed falling to the desired 2 percent before cutting rates. Also on Tuesday evening, two Fed members said they were in no great hurry to cut interest rates.

KBC is also looking forward to the American job market this week, with figures on this on Wednesday and Friday. In addition to inflation, the Fed also pays attention to employment.

During the last interest rate meeting, chairman Jerome Powell indicated that sudden weakness in the labor market could provoke a response from the Fed in the form of interest rate cuts. He repeated this during a debate on Friday, according to KBC. This time, Powell added that the labor market and the broader economy remain very strong until further notice and that against that backdrop the Fed is in no rush to cut rates.

Economists at the Japanese bank Nomura expect that 200,000 American jobs were added last month.

The euro/dollar traded at 1.077 on Wednesday.

Risers and fallers

One of the stars in the main index was Solvay, with a gain of 3.1 percent. Index heavyweight Argenx gained 0.9 percent.

On the other hand, Elia had to give up 2.3 percent. Lotus Bakeries also lost 2.0 percent.

Barclays has raised its recommendation for WDP from Underweight to Overweight. The price target increased from 25.00 to 29.50 euros. WDP’s share price was fractionally higher.

The same Barclays, on the other hand, maintained a Hold recommendation for Montea, but increased the price target from 76.00 to 90.00 euros. The price of this real estate share was 1.0 percent in the red. Sector peers Atenor and Immobel fell more than 2 percent.

A notable increase was Tessenderlo with 4.2 percent. Bpost won 1.8 percent.

There were major outliers among the small caps.

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.