European equity markets should recover at the opening. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,830.76 points (-0.47%), the CAC 40 at 6,534.79 points (-0.83%), the DAX 40 at 14.153.46 points (-0.07%), the FTSE 100 at 7,601.28 points (-0.20%), the SMI at 12,281.42 points (-1.55%), the AEX at 716.57 points (-0.43%), the BEL 20 at 4.210.15 points (-0.15%), the IBEX 35 at 8,694.00 points (-0.06%), the DJIA at 34,911.20 points (+1.45%), the Nasdaq at 13,619.66 points (+2.15%), the S&P 500 at 4,462.21 points (+1.61%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,215.86 points (+0.86%).
On the currency front, the change from the New York close shows EUR/USD opening at 1.0820 (+0.30%), EUR/JPY at 139.08 (+0.02%) and USD/JPY at 128.54 (-0.28%).
Danone, Carrefour, Verallia and Mercialys publish their first quarter sales on Wednesday. For their part, Hermès and Eiffage will hold a shareholders' meeting. On Tuesday evening, L'Oréal announced that its organic growth had accelerated in the first quarter, thanks in particular to the lifting of sanitary restrictions in Europe and to a still sustained demand in China. Teleperformance confirmed its targets for 2022, after reporting revenue growth in the first quarter.
European equity markets are expected to rise at the opening on Wednesday, recovering some of the ground lost the previous day in the wake of Wall Street's strong closing. At 7:35 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract was up 22 points, or 0.3%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 40 contract was up 54 points, or 0.4%. Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday, helped by a decline in energy prices and the release of positive indicators in the U.S. housing sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.5 percent to 34,911.20 points, and the broader S&P 500 index rose 1.6 percent to 4,462.21 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.1% to 13,619.66 points. In Asia, markets were mostly in the green on Wednesday. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index was up 0.9% in Tokyo and the Hang Seng was up 0.1% in Hong Kong. On the other hand, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.6%.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) left its benchmark borrowing rates unchanged on Wednesday, as expected by economists. The one-year Loan Prime Rate, the PBOC's benchmark rate, was kept at 3.70% and the five-year rate was left at 4.60%, the central bank said.
U.S. Treasury bond yields hit three-year highs or more on Tuesday. The 10-year bond crossed the 2.9% threshold for the first time since December 2018, as market participants incorporated the prospect of a sharp rise in U.S. interest rates to tame inflation. On Wednesday morning, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note continued to rise, settling at 2.944% from 2.941% on Tuesday night.
The euro was up Wednesday morning against the dollar, which was down broadly against other major currencies.
Oil futures regained some of the ground lost the previous day on Wednesday as traders anticipated a rebound in demand from China. Oil prices ended lower Tuesday in New York, hurt by a strong dollar and concerns about global demand after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its economic forecast. At 7:25 a.m., the June contract for North Sea Brent crude was up $1.25 at $108.50 a barrel, while the same term for Nymex-listed light sweet crude (WTI) was up $1.25 at $103.30 a barrel.