Market attention is turning to central banks on Monday, September 19, 2022. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,500.41 points (-1.17%), the CAC 40 at 6,077.30 points (-1.31%), the DAX 40 at 12,741.26 points (-1.66%), the FTSE 100 at 7,236.68 points (-0.62%), the SMI at 10,610.65 points (-1.27%), and the AEX at 664.83 points (-1.27%). 47%), the BEL 20 at 3,592.32 points (-0.34%), the IBEX 35 at 7,984.70 points (-1.25%), the DJIA at 30,822.42 points (-0.45%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,567.65 points (-1.11%).

On the exchange side, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opens at 0.9998 (-0.18%), EUR/JPY at 143.13 (-0.03%), and USD/JPY at 143.16 (+0.16%).

Investors will react on Monday to the abandonment of the proposed merger between TF1 and M6. In a joint press release published on Friday evening, the two audiovisual groups and their respective parent companies Bouygues and RTL Group announced that they had abandoned their planned merger, initiated in May 2021 with the aim of resisting the rise of online television platforms, due to the concerns of the Competition Authority regarding this operation.

The marriage of the first and third channels in the French audiovisual landscape would have given birth to a player with more than 30% audience share and representing nearly 75% of the television advertising market. In addition, home automation manufacturer Somfy and private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners join the SBF 120 index on Monday. At the same time, the furniture chain Maisons du Monde is removed from this same index.

European stock markets are expected to open slightly higher on Monday, at the dawn of a busy week for markets, which await monetary policy decisions from many central banks amid high inflation and slowing growth. At 7:35, the CAC 40 futures contract gained 14 points, or 0.2%, according to data from the IG Markets broker. At the same time, the DAX 40 contract was gaining 50 points, or 0.4%. The London Stock Exchange will remain closed on Monday, a holiday in the United Kingdom due to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

The world's major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of England, and the Bank of Japan (BOJ), will take center stage this week. The decision by the Fed, which is expected to tighten its monetary policy once again aggressively, is particularly awaited. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, investors assess the probability of a 75 basis point increase in the federal funds rate at 82%. The chances of a rise of 100 basis points, which jumped after the announcement of higher-than-expected inflation in the United States in August, are estimated at 18%. The majority of investors expect a rise of 75 basis points in November as well.

Against this background, Wall Street ended lower on Friday as investors were concerned about both the upcoming monetary tightening and global growth following an earnings warning issued by parcel delivery specialist FedEx. The Dow Jones index lost 0.5%, the expanded S&P 500 index lost 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%. Over the week as a whole, the Dow Jones Index and the S&P 500 dropped more than 4%, while the Nasdaq dropped nearly 5.5%.

In Asia, the main markets were trading in the red on Monday. At the end of the session, the Hang Seng Index on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange lost 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4%. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed due to a holiday in Japan.

U.S. Treasury bond yields fell for the most part on Friday, but rose throughout the week as investor concerns grew as the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision approached. The two-year bond rate recorded its biggest weekly increase in a month on Friday, while the 30-year bond was one of the few maturities to see its return increase over the session. It thus reached its highest level in more than eight years.

The dollar rose on Monday morning, especially against the euro, as investors await monetary policy decisions from several central banks this week. The marked appreciation of the dollar risks exacerbating the slowdown in growth over time and amplifying the inflation puzzle for global central banks. As the role of the dollar is the main currency of exchange for international trade and global finance, its fluctuations have a considerable impact. The strength of the currency is particularly evident in fuel and food shortages in Sri Lanka, record inflation in Europe, and the explosion of the trade deficit in Japan.

Oil futures rose Monday morning after suffering their third consecutive weekly decline last week. Around 7:20 a.m., the November contract on North Sea Brent was gaining 46 cents at $91.81 per barrel, while the October contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on Nymex rose 29 cents at $85.40 per barrel.