European stock exchanges, including Piazza Affari, are expected to open with a marked decline in the wake of Wall Street and Tokyo, after the statements by Jerome Powell, president of the Federal Reserve, which confirm the scenario of a half-point rate hike at the beginning of May and a series of further retouching.
“It is appropriate, in my view, to move a little faster” in the rate hike cycle, the Fed helmsman said at an event organized by the IMF, adding that “I would say that a close of 50 basis points will be on the table at the next meeting in May “.
At the same time, in the euro area the scenario of a first rate hike in July continues to strengthen according to statements by European Central Bank (ECB) officials.
The general climate is therefore unfavorable for equities, especially as prolonged confinements in China risk fueling inflation in the weeks and months to come, weighing on activity.
In this context, the preliminary reading of the PMI manufacturing and services indices of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Eurozone in the morning and the United States in the afternoon will be carefully observed in April. “Especially the French and German ones, are expected to slow down both in the manufacturing component and in that of services”, warn analysts of Mps Capital Services.
On the menu of the session also a speech by Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB, at an event of the Peterson Institute.
On the corporate front, the quarterly results of several large European groups are planned, including SAP, Renault and EssilorLuxottica.