The major European stock markets opened higher today, anticipating that the preliminary September PMIs for manufacturing and services from Germany, France, the UK, and the US will confirm that private sector activity continues to expand.
By 09:20 in Lisbon, the EuroStoxx 600 had risen by 0.38% to 555.58 points.
The markets in London, Paris, and Frankfurt were up by 0.25%, 0.92%, and 0.52%, respectively, while Madrid registered a gain of 0.30%.
Milan was the exception, shedding 0.06%.
The Lisbon stock exchange maintained its opening trend, with the main PSI index advancing 1.09% to 7,803.35 points at 09:20. It had reached a high of 8,020.36 points on August 21.
Today, S&P Global will release the preliminary September readings of the forward-looking sectoral activity indices, the PMIs for the manufacturing and services sectors of the eurozone’s two largest economies, Germany and France, as well as the UK and the US, expected to confirm that private activity continues to expand slightly in Europe and at a faster pace in the US.
In this session, the market will also focus on the release of the updated OECD macroeconomic outlook report with forecasts for this year and the next for the G20 countries by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), which is expected to include initial assessments of the impact of tariffs imposed by the US on its major trading partners.
In Asia, the Tokyo stock exchange remained closed today due to the celebration of the National Equinox Day, while the benchmark index of the Shanghai stock exchange fell by 0.18%, the Shenzhen index lost 0.29%, and the Hang Seng of the Hong Kong stock exchange dropped 0.88% shortly before the end of the session.
Futures on Wall Street, which closed Monday on another record high, registered moderate gains today, with the Dow Jones up 0.09% and the Nasdaq up 0.02%.
The Dow Jones ended Friday up 0.14% at 46,381.54 points, marking a new high since the index was created in 1896.
The Nasdaq, a high-technology index, closed up 0.70% at 22,788.98 points, also a new all-time high.
In the bond market, the yield on Germany’s 10-year bond fell to 2.737%, down from 2.747%.
In commodity markets, gold per troy ounce, a safe-haven asset, was up to $3,754.14, a new all-time high compared to $3,737.16 on Monday.
Brent crude, the European benchmark, for November delivery, is down to $66.25, from $66.57 on Monday.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US benchmark, also fell by 0.53% to $61.95 before the official market opening.
Bitcoin, the most widespread and traded cryptocurrency, is up 0.19% to $113,064.50.
The euro fell to $1.1785 in the Frankfurt currency market, from $1.1788 on Monday and a new four-year high of $1.1865 recorded on September 16.
