European stocks and US futures are lower ahead of a fresh flurry of earnings
European stocks and U.S. stock futures fell on Tuesday ahead of a busy day of third-quarter corporate results, while Asian shares fell further after a historic drop in the previous session.
The regional Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1 percent and Germany’s Dax index fell 0.8 percent as the country’s Ifo Institute said domestic business sentiment “continues to be gloomy“.
Martin Wolburg, senior economist at Generali Investments, said he expected the European Central Bank to raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage point to 1.5 percent on Thursday in a bid to deal with consumer prices that hit 10 percent in the euro zone in the year to September.
London’s FTSE 100 index lost 0.7 percent and the 10-year bond yield fell 0.05 percentage point to 3.69 percent – reflecting rising prices – after Rishi Sunak was confirmed as Britain’s third prime minister for seven weeks. Sterling was up 0.4 percent against the dollar at $1.132 and up 0.5 percent against the euro at €1.147.
In the U.S., futures contracts that track the broad S&P 500 index fell 0.4 percent in the hours before companies such as Alphabet, Spotify and General Motors report their latest quarterly earnings.
The S&P 500 has fallen a fifth this year, but gained 4.7 percent last week, adding another 1.2 percent on Monday.
The gains followed reports that the US Federal Reserve may soon slow the pace of monetary tightening, but Mike Zygmont, head of trading and research at Harvest Volatility Management, questioned whether the news warranted such a shift in sentiment. .
Jeff O’Connor, head of market structure for the Americas at Liquidnet, said traders were facing “once-in-a-generation headwinds” and had to contend with volatile market conditions.
“The market has become accustomed to real price volatility, almost insensitive to it,” he said. “Wild moves significantly complicate trading conditions.”
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.1 percent after its biggest one-day drop since 2008 on Monday and the confirmation of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s third term in power. The CSI 300 index of Shanghai and Shenzhen shares fell 0.2 percent, while the Chinese yuan hit its mark. the weakest level against the dollar since 2007.
European natural gas prices meanwhile rose, erasing some of the previous session’s decline, with Dutch TTF gas futures — the benchmark regional contract — rising 5.1 percent to 99.90 euros per megawatt hour on Tuesday. Gas prices fell below EUR 100/MWh on Monday for the first time since mid-Junewhen Russia reduced supplies.