MILANO – Flat Europe futures after mixed session in Asia with Tokyo shedding 0.35%. After the Thanksgiving break, Wall Street trading resumes for Black Friday. Meanwhile, Treasuries rallied after the reading of some statements by Fed members that open to a slowdown in interest rate tightening. In Europe, German GDP grew above expectations in the third quarter of 2022: +0.4%, beyond the initial estimates which indicated an increase of 0.3%. Annual growth is 1.3%. The German consumer confidence climate indicator also rose to -40.2 in December from -41.9 in November, while market expectations were -39.6.
Gas in Europe fluctuates around 125 euros per megawatt hour.
Asian markets steady, Tokyo closes down 0.3%
Asian stock markets around parity on the last day of the week, with operators who clearly seem to be waiting for the moves of the central banks, especially the Fed and the ECB. The Tokyo Stock Exchange with the Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3%, with Hong Kong moving along the same lines. Shanghai was up 0.4% while Shenzhen was down 0.7%. Seoul was down 0.1%, while Sydney finished up 0.2%. The futures on the launch of the European lists are also uncertain.
Spread slightly up to 183 basis points
Spread between 10-year BTPs and German Bunds up slightly at the start of the session: the differential opened at 183 basis points compared to 181 at yesterday’s closing. The Treasury yield is 3.67%.
Gas, growing slightly to 125 megawatt hours
Gas price up slightly: natural gas futures for delivery in December rise at the start of the session on the Amsterdam market by 1% to 125 euros per megawatt hour.
Tokyo closes down 0.35%
The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed the last session of the week down, with the Nikkei losing 0.35% to 28,283.03 points and the Topix 0.04% to 2,018 points. Weighing on stock markets are profit-taking after the latest rallies on the back of expectations that the Fed will slow down the pace of interest rate hikes. Investors also reacted to data showing that basic consumer prices in Tokyo, a leading indicator of price trends nationwide, rose to a 40-year high of 3.6% in November on rising prices. inflationary pressures. Technology stocks led the decline, with losses from Tokyo Electron (-0.8%), Keyence (-1.5%) and Advantest (-1%). Other index heavyweights such as Fast Retailing (-0.8%), Sony Group (-0.8%) and Kawasaki Kisen (-1.1%) also declined, while SoftBank Group (+0.3%) gained %), Mitsubishi UFJ (+1%) and Toyota Motor (+0.4%).