European stocks expected near equilibrium after Powell's comments on inflation. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,123.13 points up 0.26%, the CAC 40  at 6,611.50 points (+0.14%), the DAX 30 at 15,636.33 points (+0.21%), the FTSE 100  at 7,090.01 points (+0.39%), the SMI at 11,982.48 points (-0.11%), the AEX at 728.59 points (+0.67%), the BEL 20 at 4,155.82 points (+0.03%), the IBEX 35 at 9,053.30 points (+0.02%), the DJIA at 33,945.58 points (+0.20%), the Nasdaq  at 14,253.27 points (+0.79%), the S&P 500 at 4,246.44 points (+0.51%) and the Nikkei 225 at 28,879.27 points (-0.02%).

On the exchange rate side, the variation from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD lost 0.18% (1.1923), EUR/JPY lost 0.09% (132.05) and finally USD/JPY which gained  0.08% (110.77).

In France, investors will be paying attention this Wednesday to the PMI indices of the manufacturing and services sector in June, a month in which new restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic were lifted. The improvement in the health situation in France should have supported services activity and economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal anticipate a rise in the PMI of the sector to 59.2 this month, against 56.6 in May. On the corporate side, Valneva brings its shareholders together in a general meeting. European equity markets are expected to move little on Wednesday at the opening, despite reassuring remarks made by Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell about inflation. At 7:35 am, the futures contract on the CAC 40 gave up 3 points, or 0.05%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The CONTRACT on the DAX 30 was down 5.5 points, or 0.04%, and the FTSE 100 contract lost 3 points, or 0.04%.  Many economists believe that the acceleration of inflation in recent months in the United States will result in a gradual withdrawal of monetary support measures, starting with the Fed's bond purchases, currently $120 billion a month.

Wednesday, investors will pay attention to manufacturing and services PMIs in Europe and the United States. Figures for new home sales in May and weekly oil inventories across the Atlantic will also be monitored. In Asia, equity markets are up Wednesday morning, in the wake of Wall Street's rise the day before. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 0.02%. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% and the Hang Seng Index gained 1.5% in Hong Kong.

US Treasury yields are recovering Wednesday morning after falling the day before, as Jerome Powell reiterated that the Fed would slowly reduce its support measures. At 7:35 a.m., the yield on the ten-year Treasury bill, the market benchmark, stood at 1.475%, against 1.467% on Tuesday night. In Europe, adding EU bonds to euro sovereign debt benchmarks would be a game-changer in terms of demand for these securities and flows, said Peter McCallum, rates strategist at Mizuho.

The euro retreats against the dollar on Wednesday morning, after Jerome Powell's comments downplayed the threat of an acceleration in inflation. He also claimed that no currency could compete with the dollar's reserve currency status. With a six-month horizon, Pictet left its forecast unchanged, at $1.24, compared to $1.1921 on Wednesday at 7:35 a.m. In addition, the pound sterling is BNP Paribas' favourite among the G10 currencies, as markets begin to anticipate a withdrawal of monetary support measures from the Bank of England (BOE).

Oil contracts advance Wednesday morning, allowing the barrel of North Sea Brent to exceed the $75 threshold. On Tuesday night, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 7.2 million barrel drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while gasoline inventories rose 959,000 barrels. This rather favorable data was published before the official report of the Department of Energy on stocks, expected on Wednesday.  According to analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal, crude inventories are expected to fall by 4.1 million barrels and gasoline inventories are expected to have increased by 800,000 barrels last week. Around 7:30 a.m., the August contract for North Sea Brent gained 51 cents, at $75.32 a barrel, and the same maturity contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex was up 40 cents, at $73.25 a barrel.