European equity markets are expected to retreat in the face of a deluge of results and before the Fed. The Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,064.83 points down 0.92%, the CAC 40 at 6,531.92 points (-0.71%), the DAX 30 at 15,519.13 points (-0.64%), the FTSE 100 at 6,996.08 points (-0.42%), the SMI at 12,021.09 points (-0.24%), the AEX at 737.24 points (-1.05%), the BEL 20 at 4,210.56 points (-0.63%), the IBEX 35 at 8,699.20 points (-0.87%), the DJIA at 35,058.52 points (-0.24%), the Nasdaq at 14,660.58 points (-1.21%), the S&P 500 at 4,401.46 points (-0.47%) and the Nikkei 225 is at 27,492.56 points with a decline of 1.71%.

As regarding the exchange rate, the variation from the close in New York indicates that the EUR/USD pair opens at 1.1823 up 0.04% and the EUR/JPY at 129.80 with an increase of 0.04% while the USD/JPY loses at 109.79, or 0.01%.

The business agenda is busy Wednesday in France, with many half-year results. Among the main publications of the day are those of Carrefour, Vivendi, Capgemini, Safran, Unibail Rodamco-Westfield, Teleperformance and Suez. Groupe ADP, Scor, TF1, Rexel, Elior, Bureau Veritas, Eurazeo, CGG, Nexans, CNP Assurances, Maisons du Monde, Bic, Eramet, Europcar, Alten, Coface, Elis, Mercialys, Vallourec, Albioma and GTT also unveil their accounts for the first six months of the year.

European equity markets are expected to retreat at the start of trading on Wednesday, a day full of corporate earnings releases in both Europe and the United States. Investors will also be watching, at 8:00 p.m., for announcements by the Federal Reserve's (Fed) Monetary Policy Committee. At 7:25 am, the futures contract on the CAC 40 gave up 5 points, or 0.08%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The CONTRACT on the DAX 30 lost 32 points, or 0.2%, and the FTSE 100 contract gave up 24 points, or 0.3%. Wall Street ended lower on Tuesday, marking a pause from its previous day's highs, as investors awaited the release of the results of several U.S. tech giants. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) fell 0.2% to 35,058.92 points, and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.5% to 4,401.50 points. The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.2% to 14,660.58 points. After the close, Apple, Microsft and Alphabet, Google's parent company, all reported sharply higher results for the quarter ended June 30. Investor reaction to these announcements, however, has been mixed. Apple fell 2.1% in trading following wall street's close, Microsoft grabbed 0.2% and Alphabet gained 0.9%. In Asia, the main indices fell on Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite Index lost ground for the fourth consecutive session, affected by concerns over Beijing's regulatory crackdown on many companies, including in the technology sector and private education. At the end of the session, the flagship index of the Shanghai Stock Exchange lost 0.6%. In its wake, the Hang Seng gave up 0.2% in Hong Kong where many Chinese companies are listed. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index fell 1.7%.

LONG-term Treasury yields continue their decline on Wednesday morning. At 7:25 a.m., the yield on the ten-year Treasury bill, the benchmark for the bond market, was trading at 1.238%, against 1.247% on Tuesday night. In France, Saxo Bank estimates a 70% probability that Emmanuel Macron will be re-elected President of the Republic in April 2022 after defeating Marine Le Pen in the second round, says Christopher Dembik. As the leader of the National Rally has renounced the withdrawal of France from the euro zone, the risk on the French bond markets should be less than in 2017, believes the analyst.

The euro is moving little against the dollar on Wednesday morning, while investors await the Fed's announcements and the Delta variant shakes confidence in the recovery of the global economy. Investors believe the Fed will discuss the timing of its asset purchases on Wednesday and that such a tightening of monetary policy could allow the dollar to appreciate.

Oil prices rise Wednesday morning, ahead of the release of the Energy Department's weekly report on U.S. oil inventories and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcements. On Tuesday night, the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade association announced a 4.7 million barrel cut in U.S. crude inventories last week and a 6.2 million barrel drop in fuel inventories. At 7:15 a.m., the September contract for North Sea Brent was gaining 32 cents, at $74.80 a barrel. The same maturity on light sweet crude (WTI) listed on the Nymex was up 38 cents to $72.03 a barrel.