The market is hoping for progress in the talks between kyiv and Moscow while waiting for the ECB. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,766.02 points (+7.44%), the CAC 40 at 6,387.83 points (+7.13%), the DAX 40 at 13,847.93 points (+7.92%) ), the FTSE 100 at 7,190.72 points (+3.25%), the SMI at 11,493.36 points (+3.95%), the AEX at 688.33 points (+4.81%), the BEL 20 at 3,884.78 points (+5.78%), IBEX 35 at 8,163.10 points (+4.88%), DJIA at 33,286.25 points (+2.00%), Nasdaq at 13,255.55 points (+3.59%), the S&P 500 at 4,277.88 points (+2.57%) and the Nikkei 225 at 25,690.40 points (+3.94%).
Regarding exchange rates, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD at 1.1056 (-0.18%), EUR/JPY at 128.40 (+0 .07%) and USD/JPY at 116.15 (+0.25%).
On Wednesday evening, Vivendi published results that exceeded expectations in 2021, and reaffirmed its desire to create a "major European content and media group" by buying the 55% of Lagardère that it does not yet hold. Vivendi filed in early February a draft takeover bid for the media and distribution group at a price of 25.50 euros per share. This offer raises the concern of a number of publishing players who fear being marginalized by the merger of two heavyweights in the sector, Hachette (Lagardère) and Editis (Vivendi).
The insurer CNP Assurances has also announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with the company Mediterraneo Vida with a view to selling its Spanish life insurance subsidiary CNP Partners.
European equities are expected to continue higher at the open on Thursday, as investors hope a planned meeting between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers will help advance talks to end the conflict. However, volatility should remain high ahead of the monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the press conference by its president, Christine Lagarde. At 7:40 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract gained 20 points, or 0.3%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX 40 gained 73 points, or 0.5%, and that on the FTSE 100 rose by 30 points, or 0.4%.
The euro zone has been facing a marked acceleration in inflation for months, aggravated by the war in Ukraine, which has led to soaring prices for energy and many raw materials, ranging from wheat to nickel. In the United States, the House of Representatives adopted on the night of Wednesday to Thursday a budget bill including expenditure of 1.500 billion dollars, including emergency aid to Ukraine. This text, however, does not contain a controversial provision providing for funding of 15.6 billion dollars for vaccines, treatments and research on Covid-19.
Wall Street had previously ended sharply higher, ending four consecutive sessions of decline. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) gained 2% to 33,285.36 points, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 2.6% to 4,277.89 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 3.6% to 13,255.55 points.
In the wake of the American markets, the main Asian stock markets rose on Thursday. The Nikkei index gained 3.9% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, recording its best performance since June 2020. At the same time, the Hang Seng was up 0.7% at the end of the session in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite index advanced by 1.4%.
Yields on US Treasury bonds fell on Thursday morning as investors hoped for a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. Investors sold bonds on Wednesday ahead of announcements from the European Central Bank on Thursday and a likely Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike next week.
The euro fell Thursday morning against the dollar.
Crude oil futures regained ground on Thursday morning after falling more than 13% the day before. ING attributes Wednesday's decline to comments by the Ukrainian president, who said he was ready to compromise to end the war. As of 7:30 a.m., the May contract for Brent North Sea crude was up $1.89, or 1.7%, at $113.03 a barrel, while the April contract for light sweet crude (WTI) quoted at Nymex was up $1.02, or 1%, to $109.72 a barrel.