European stock markets are expected to rise, reacting to a deluge of results and announcements from the Fed. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,607.78 points (+0.91%), the CAC 40 at 6,257.94 points (+0.75%), the DAX 40 at 13,166.38 points (+0.53%), the FTSE 100 at 7,348.23 points (+0.57%), the SMI at 11,056.74 points (-0.41%), the AEX at 713.53 points (+0.57%), the SMI at 11,056.74 points (-0.41%), the AEX at 713.53 points (+0.57%), the SMI at 11,056.74 points (+0.41%), the AEX at 713.53 points (+0.57%), the SMI at 11,056.74 points (+0.41%) 1.03%), the BEL 20 at 3,752.04 points (+0.29%), the IBEX 35 at 8,124.40 points (+0.68%), the DJIA at 32,197.59 points (+1.37%), the Nasdaq at 12,032.04 points (+4.06%), the S&P 500 at 4,023.61 points (+2.62%) and the Nikkei 22 at 27,782.88 points (+0.24%).

With respect to the exchange rate, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD at 1,0209 (+0.11%), EUR/JPY at 138.24 (-0.77%), USD/JPY at 135.42 (-0.87%).

Investors are facing a veritable deluge of half-year results on Thursday. More than 35 companies composing the SBF 120 index publish their accounts for the first six months of the year, including 14 members of the CAC 40, the flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange. These 14 companies are Accor, Air Liquide, ArcelorMittal, Capgemini, L'Oréal, Orange, Safran, Sanofi, Schneider Electric, Stellantis, STMicroelectronics, TotalEnergies, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, and Vivendi.

Airbus has lowered its 2022 aircraft delivery target and postponed its production rate target of 65 aircraft per month for the A320 family to early 2024, due to supply chain difficulties.

Teleperformance confirmed its financial objectives for 2022 after registering 5.5% growth on a comparable basis in the first half of the year.

FNAC Darty published lower first-half results, marked by an erosion of sales in a context of high inflation.

Following the announcement of a hike in interest rates in line with expectations by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the main European equity markets are expected to open in a green light on Thursday, as investors analyze a new wave of corporate results in Europe and the United States. They are also waiting for the first estimate of US gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter, as well as inflation figures for Germany in July. At 7:25am, the CAC 40 futures contract gained 23 points, or 0.4%, according to data from the IG Markets broker. The DAX 40 contract increased by 39 points, or 0.3%, and the FTSE 100 contract increased by 15 points, or 0.2%.

As part of the fight against inflation, the Fed increased interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday and expected additional hikes in the coming months, while admitting that its policy would have the effect of hampering growth in the United States. The Fed adopted a range between 2.25% and 2.5% for the federal funds rate, which was still close to zero at the start of the year. The Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC) took this decision unanimously.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday, with investors hoping that the Fed will slow the pace of its monetary tightening in the coming months. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) gained 1.4% and the expanded S&P 500 index gained 2.6%. The nasdaq index, which is dominated by technology, jumped by 4.1%, driven by the vote in the US Senate on a bill to devote 52 billion dollars to revive semiconductor production in the United States.

After the close of the US markets, technology stocks could suffer on Thursday from the results published by Meta Platforms, the parent company of social networks Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. Meta announced the first drop in sales in its history on Wednesday evening and presented a mixed outlook due to a weaker economic environment and increasing competition from TikTok.

Major Asian stock exchanges were trading in a mixed order on Thursday. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.6%. In contrast, the Hang Seng dropped 0.4% in Hong Kong.

U.S. Treasury bond yields fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced a 0.75 percentage point rate hike, while the spread between two-year and 10-year bonds remained profoundly negative, a worrying sign for the economic outlook. Investors are waiting for the first estimate of US GDP for the second quarter on Thursday. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expect an increase of 0.3%, after a contraction of 1.6% in the first quarter.

The dollar fell against the other major currencies, including the euro, on Thursday, as investors expected the Fed to tighten less aggressively in the coming months. According to DBS Research, the greenback has probably reached its peak level for this year. For its part, Ally Invest believes that the dollar should remain strong in the long term.

Oil contracts continued to rise on Thursday, after ending Wednesday at their highest level in a week, supported by reports of a fall in weekly US oil stocks. Concerns that a strong tightening of monetary policy by the Fed and other central banks could push the economy into recession or cause a sharp slowdown have weighed on crude prices in recent weeks, analysts say. Nevertheless, the courts retained most of their lead. At 7:15 a.m., the September contract on North Sea Brent was gaining 58 cents at $107.20 per barrel, and the similar contract for soft light crude (WTI) listed on Nymex increased by 92 cents to $98.18 per barrel.