In the wake of Wall Street, European equity markets should attempt a rebound. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,145.94 points (-1.09%), the CAC 40 at 6,583.62 points (-1.04%), the DAX 30 at 15,616.00 points (-0.68%), the FTSE 100 at 7,016.49 points (-0.25%), the SMI at 11,984.83 points (-0.93%), the AEX at 794.19 points (-0.44%), the BEL 20 at 4,125.09 points (-1.14%), the IBEX 35 at 8,635.40 points (-1.65%), the DJIA at 34,814.39 points (+0.68%), the Nasdaq at 15,161.53 points (+0.82%), the S&P 500 at 4,480.70 points (+0.85%) and the Nikkei 225 at 30,311.34 points down 0.66%.

The exchange rate shows a total decrease in its variation compared to the close in New York. EUR/USD opened at 1.1813 (-0.03%), EUR/JPY at 129.11 (-0.09%) and USD/JPY at 109.30 down 0.07%.

The media and entertainment group Vivendi announced Wednesday evening its intention to buy the stake of the Amber Capital fund in Lagardère, and subsequently to launch a takeover bid for the rest of the capital. Vivendi proposes to buy Amber's stake, i.e. 17.93% of the capital and 14.34% of the voting rights, at a price of €24.1 per share. This price represents a premium of about 25% over Lagardère's closing price on Wednesday. "Vivendi's proposal has been accepted by Amber Capital, leading to the conclusion, in the following terms, of a conditional sales contract," Vivendi said in a statement. The operation will be completed by 15 December 2022, subject to approval by the competent authorities. "If these authorizations, mainly requested from the European Commission and the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, were not obtained by 15 December 2022, the acquisition must be made at the same price, for the benefit of a third party substituted for Vivendi," the group said. In the event of completion of this acquisition, Vivendi would hold 45.1% of the capital and 36.1% of the voting rights of Lagardère, thus crossing the thresholds of 30% of the capital and voting rights requiring it to file a takeover bid on the company. "Consequently, a draft public offer at the same price for all Lagardère shares not yet held by Vivendi will be filed on a mandatory basis with the Autorité des marchés financiers in accordance with the applicable regulations," Vivendi said. In a statement published later, Lagardère said it was "delighted with the investment project that Vivendi wishes to achieve by acquiring the stake of Amber Capital". This project "testifies to Vivendi's confidence in the relevance of Lagardère's strategic model" and "reinforces respect for the integrity of the Lagardère group and the support provided to its management", he added.

European equity markets are expected to open slightly higher on Thursday, supported by the rebound in U.S. indices on Wednesday night, as investors try to gauge the strength of the global economic recovery. The figures for new vehicle registrations in the European Union in August, weekly applications for unemployment benefits and monthly retail sales in the United States will provide them with new clues as next week will be marked by the monetary policy decisions of many central banks, including the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ). At 7:35 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract gained 13 points, or 0.2%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX was up 16 points, or 0.1%, and the FTSE 100 contract was up 3 points, or 0.04%.

The main Asian stock exchanges are losing ground on Thursday, also concerned about the slowdown in Chinese growth and the difficulties of the real estate developer Evergrande. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.5% and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 1.6%. On Wednesday night, Wall Street ended higher, supported by a rebound in industrial and energy stocks and the rise in the technology sector. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) ended up 0.7% at 34,814.39 points. The broader S&P 500 index rose 0.9% to 4,480.71 points. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8% to 15,161.53.

The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury bond, the market's benchmark bond, fell below the 1.300% threshold on Thursday morning, in a volatile session. At 7:35 a.m., it stood at 1.298%, against 1.301% on Wednesday night. Overall, the market stabilized after yields fell on Tuesday, in reaction to the release of U.S. inflation figures.

The euro shows a slight decline against the dollar on Thursday morning. According to DBS, the currency market is moving in a rollercoaster fashion, influenced sometimes by bearish investors in equity markets who are waiting for a correction in September-October, sometimes by bearish investors in bond markets who believe that the Fed will reduce its asset purchases before the end of the year. That stalemate is expected to continue until the Fed's monetary policy committee meeting next week, DBS added.

Oil futures continue to rise Thursday morning, after hitting their highest level since late July on Wednesday, supported by a drop of more than 6 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories last week. Around 7:30 a.m., the November Contract for North Sea Brent gained 19 cents, at $75.66 a barrel. The October contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex was up 16 cents, at $72.77 a barrel.