Stocks are expected to fall after the Fed's announcements and a new round of results. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,103.03 points with an increase of 0.94%, the CAC 40 at 6,609.31 points (+1.18%), the DAX 30 at 15,570.36 points (+0.33%), the FTSE 100 at 7,016.63 points (+0.29%), the SMI at 12,073.23 points (+0.43%), the AEX at 747.66 points (+1.41%), the BEL 20 at 4,234.06 points (+0.56%), the IBEX 35 at 8,733.70 points (+0.40%), the DJIA at 34,930.93 points (-0.36%), the Nasdaq at 14,762.58 points (+0.70%), the S&P 500 at 4,400.64 points (-0.02%) and the Nikkei 225       27,763.11 points up 0.66%.

On the exchange rate side, the variation from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opens at 1.1858 up 0.12%, EUR/JPY remains stable at 130.18 while USD/JPY loses 0.12% to 109.79.

Company publications are still numerous on Thursday in France. In total, 12 members of the CAC 40 index unveil their half-year accounts: Airbus, TotalEnergies, Sanofi, L'Oréal, Orange, Veolia, Saint-Gobain, STMicroelectronics, Danone, Accor, Air Liquide and ArcelorMittal. The results of Casino, Arkema, EDF, JCDecaux, Solvay, Ipsen, Euronext, Fnac Darty, Verallia, Korian, FDJ, Wendel, SopraSteria and Spie will also be monitored. On Wednesday evening, Vivendi reported higher results and revenue for the first half of the year, driven by all of its activities: Universal Music Group (UMG), Canal+ Group, Havas Group and Editis.

European equity markets are expected to open lower on Thursday, after the U.S. central bank confirmed it was considering cutting asset purchases in the face of economic progress while preserving ultra-low rates to support the recovery. At 7:25 am, the futures contract on the CAC 40 gave up 5 points, or 0.1%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX 30 lost 31 points, or 0.2%, and the ftse 100 contract gave up 4 points, or 0.06%. The Federal Reserve (Fed) as expected kept its policy unchanged on Wednesday and noted the progress made by the US economy on the road to recovery, paving the way for a possible reduction in its asset purchases in the coming months. The central bank did not provide a timetable for the start of a withdrawal from its quantitative easing measures, but noted the progress made towards the employment and inflation targets that justified its bond purchases.

After these announcements, Wall Street finished in scattered order on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) lost 0.4% to 34,930.80 points. The broader S&P 500 index fell 0.02% to 4,400.63 points. The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% to 14,653 points, supported in particular by the good results of Alphabet, Google's parent company. Facebook, for its part, published quarterly results after wall Street closed indicating that the social network has, like other American digital platforms, benefited from the strong rebound in the online advertising market in the second quarter. However, the presentation of mixed forecasts for the coming months weighed on the share price of the social network in the exchanges that followed the close on Wall Street. In Asia, the main indices are recovering on Thursday. At the end of the session, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.1%, recovering after several consecutive sessions of decline. The Hang Seng advanced 2.8% in Hong Kong. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rose 0.6%. This rebound is explained by Beijing's efforts to curb the decline in shares following the crackdown on several companies in the technology sector and private education in China. An official at China's stock regulator told representatives of several international banks that Beijing would study the impact of its policies on financial markets in the future before making new decisions, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

US Treasury bond yields edged up on Thursday, as investors analyze Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments and the central bank's assessment that the U.S. economy has "done progress" on the conditions necessary for a reduction in its asset purchases, but insufficient to begin a gradual withdrawal. At 7:25 a.m., the yield on the ten-year Treasury bill, the benchmark for the bond market, was trading at 1.245%, against 1.234% on Wednesday night. Among the measures announced wednesday, the Fed introduced a new mechanism to provide liquidity to Wall Street to ensure the stability of financial markets in times of turbulence. A new reverse repurchase agreement will be set up on Thursday.

The euro is rising against the dollar on Thursday, as the Fed softened its tone from the restrictive tone adopted at the end of its previous meeting and did not provide precise indications on the timing of its withdrawal from its asset purchases. The resurgence of Covid-19 cases supports the idea that monetary stimulus measures will remain in place at least until 2022, which some analysts consider unfavorable to the US currency. In addition, the role of the dollar and the euro in international transactions could be reduced if the Fed and the European Central Bank (ECB) decide not to launch a digital currency, says Bank of America.

Oil contracts continue to rise on Thursday after the Fed's announcements. However, the possible recovery of Iran's oil exports remains a major downside risk for oil prices, CBA Bank said. At 7:15 a.m., the September Contract for North Sea Brent gained 24 cents to $74.98 a barrel. The same maturity on light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex was up 25 cents to $72.64 a barrel.