European stock markets should try to rebound before the US jobs report. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,456.70 points (-1.72%), the CAC 40 at 6,034.31 points (-1.48%), the DAX 40 at 12,630.23 points (-1.60%), the FTSE 100 at 7,148.50 points (-1.86%), the SMI at 10,663.44 points (-1.76%), the AEX at 666.94 points (-1.86%), the AEX at 666.94 points (-1.86%), the SMI at 10,663.44 points (-1.76%), the AEX at 666.94 points (-1.86%), the AEX at 666.94 points (-1.86%), the SMI at 10,663.44 points (-1.76%), the AEX at 666.94 points (-1.86%) 97%), the BEL 20 at 3,533.13 points (-1.47%), the IBEX 35 at 7,806.00 points (-1.02%), the DJIA at 31,656.42 points (+0.46%), the Nasdaq at 11,785.13 points (-0.26%), the S&P 500 at 3,966.85 points (+0.30%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,661.88 points (0.00%).

As for exchange rates, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opens at 0.9961 (+0.13%), EUR/JPY at 139.84 (+0.26%), and USD/JPY at 140.39 (+0.13%).

Investors will be attentive to the defense council convened by the President of the Republic starting at 10:00 a.m. on Friday to assess all possibilities in the event of a shortage. Several ministers and energy experts will participate in this meeting. While the energy crisis is attracting the attention of politicians and markets, TotalEnergies is under pressure from the Ukrainian government to abandon a dividend of several hundred million dollars paid by the Russian gas giant Novatek.

Two top advisers to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, sent a letter to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné on Thursday, asking what he intends to do with the $440 million in dividends that the company is expected to receive thanks to its 19% stake in Novatek. This letter, seen by the Wall Street Journal, was sent after Novatek announced its intention to distribute $2.27 billion in dividends to its shareholders for the first half of 2022.

In addition, the car manufacturer Renault has announced its intention to accelerate its energy efficiency approach and has indicated that it aims to reduce its energy consumption by 14% on its sites in France in 2023, including 17% on gas. “In terms of energy consumption per vehicle produced, the objective is to achieve a reduction of 40% by 2025 compared to 2021", said the manufacturer in a press release, which aims to reduce its overall consumption by 12% by the end of 2022.

In the wake of a sharp fall, European equity markets are expected to pick up some steam and open in the green on Friday, while investors await the monthly US jobs report. At 7:25am, the CAC 40 futures contract gained 63 points, or 1.1%, according to data from the IG Markets broker. The DAX contract increased 148 points, or 1.2%, and the FTSE 100 contract advanced 41 points, or 0.6%. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expect, on average, 318,000 net job creations for the month of August, compared to 528,000 in July. According to them, the unemployment rate should stabilize at 3.5%.

The U.S. Department of Labor report will be closely studied by investors, who are looking to determine whether the policy rate hikes implemented by the Federal Reserve (Fed) this year are penalizing economic activity and hindering an extremely dynamic labor market in the United States. If job creation remains robust, investors could bet on a continuation of the Fed's highly restrictive monetary policy. Markets currently have a 74% probability that the US central bank will raise interest rates by 75 basis points after its meeting on September 20 and 21, to a range of 3% to 3.25%. The probability of a similar increase in December, after which rates would be between 3.75% and 4%, is close to 70%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Against this background, Wall Street finished in a mixed order on Thursday after a volatile session. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) gained 0.5% and the expanded S&P 500 index gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq, rich in technology stocks, lost 0.3%. In Asia, the main markets also presented a mixed picture on Friday. The Nikkei index was close to balance at the end of the trading session in Tokyo, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell by 0.7%.

US Treasury yields surged on Thursday and the rate on the two-year bond, the most sensitive to monetary policy developments, reached its highest level in 15 years, while traders are waiting for the publication of the report on non-agricultural employment in the United States for the month of August. The rate of Borrowing for two ended at 3.516% on Thursday evening.

The dollar fell against the other major currencies, including the euro, on Friday morning before the US jobs report was released. At 7:25am, the DXY index, which measures the movement of the greenback against a basket of currencies, lost 0.2% to 109.51 points, after gaining nearly 1% on Thursday and reaching its highest level since 2002. The DXY index was supported by the report on unemployment claims in the United States, which showed that layoffs were not as numerous as expected. The strength of the labor market across the Atlantic leads the market to believe that the Fed's monetary policy will remain restrictive longer than expected.

Oil prices rebounded on Friday morning, after hitting their lowest level in two weeks overnight. At 7:15 a.m., the November North Sea Brent contract gained $1.83, or 2%, to $94.19 per barrel, while the October contract on soft crude (WTI) traded in New York gained $1.71, or 2%, at $88.32 per barrel.