The major European stock markets opened higher today, continuing the trend from Tuesday, as confidence grew in anticipation of interest rate cuts expected to be decided by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week.
Around 09:10 in Lisbon, the EuroStoxx 600 was up 0.51% at 555.20 points.
The stock markets in London, Paris, and Frankfurt rose by 0.24%, 0.82%, and 0.60%, respectively, while those in Madrid and Milan appreciated by 0.89% and 0.34%.
Conversely, the Lisbon stock market reversed its opening trend, with the main index, the PSI, retreating by 0.26% to 7,667.29 points at 9:10, after having reached a peak of 8,020.36 points on August 21.
On Tuesday, in the U.S., the annual revision of employment data from March 2024 to March 2025 stood out, revealing more negative outcomes than expected. Geopolitically, attention remained on Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, heightening fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict.
Additionally, the U.S. President announced readiness to impose secondary tariffs on China and India for continuing to purchase Russian oil, provided the European Union also complies, as a way to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
Wall Street futures were mixed, with the Dow Jones dropping 0.13% and the Nasdaq rising 0.31%. The Dow Jones ended up 0.43% at 45,711.34 points on Tuesday, marking a new high since the index’s inception in 1896. The high-tech Nasdaq index also advanced, climbing 0.37% to 21,879.49 points, an all-time high.
In France, the risk premium rose to 82 basis points amid expectations that the immediate appointment of a new Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, will facilitate consensus for approving the general state budget for 2026, which involves a significant reduction in the public deficit.
In the debt market, France’s 10-year bond yields rose to 3.470%, from 3.468%, while Germany’s fell to 2.642%, from 2.658%.
In Asia, Tokyo’s stock market closed with new highs in its two main indicators.
The Nikkei, featuring the 225 most representative stocks, rose by 0.87%, and the broader Topix index, which includes the major capitalized companies, climbed 0.6%. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s benchmark index gained 0.13%, Shenzhen’s index increased by 0.38%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up more than 1% shortly before the session’s end.
Thursday is set to be one of the busiest days on the economic calendar of the week, with the ECB expected to maintain rates at 2.15%. However, the market will be attentive to Christine Lagarde’s statements.
That day, the U.S. will release August’s CPI, with year-on-year forecasts pointing to 2.9% and 3.1% in the core version.
In the commodities market, gold per troy ounce, a safe-haven asset, continued to appreciate, rising to $3,645.58, a new all-time high, compared to $3,645.09 on Tuesday.
Brent crude, Europe’s reference for November delivery, advanced to $67.01, up from $66.39 on Tuesday.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark, also climbed by 1.01% to $63.26 before the official market opening.
Bitcoin, the most widely traded cryptocurrency, increased by 0.28%, to $111,825.
The euro fell to $1.1694 in the Frankfurt currency market, down from $1.1719 on Tuesday and the new high since September 15, 2021, of $1.1789 on July 2.
