For the last session of the year, the Bourses European markets are expected to open lower on Wednesday, while investors remain attentive to the geopolitical situation, in particular to the war in Ukraine and the tensions around Taiwan.

No macroeconomic indicators should be published Wednesday. The business calendar is empty as well.

The Paris Stock Exchange will close at 2 pm on Wednesday, at the Eve of the public holiday on 1 January. Around 7:40 a.m., the futures contract on the CAC 40 lost 0.4%, according to data from the broker IG.

This morning, European index futures fell. Investors are looking at business indicators in China, ahead of Publication of statistics on the labour market on the day Across the Atlantic.

Around 7:40 a.m., the FTSE 100 futures contract at London lost 0.2%, according to data from broker IG. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is closed on Wednesday, while the London one will close at 13:30.

The New York Stock Exchange closed slightly lower Tuesday, while the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting (Fed) confirmed the reluctance of several central bankers to continue the falling interest rates.

The Dow Jones Index fell by 0.2% to 48,367.06 points, and the S&P 500 lost 0.1% to 6,896.24 points. Nasdaq Composite has lost 0.2% to 23,419.08 points.

Fed members remain divided on the evolution of monetary policy, but several of them estimated that key rates should be maintained at their current level “for a while”, according to the “minutes” of the This month's meeting, published on Tuesday evening.

Since the December meeting, several indicators reported that household consumption was still dynamic Across the Atlantic. A generally well-oriented economy could limit the need for further rate cuts despite the downturn in the market for work.
On Tuesday, the Redbook retail sales index confirmed this trend, with an increase in spending of 6.7% over one year for the first four weeks of December.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1% at the end of the session, while The Hang Seng on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped 0.9%. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed on Wednesday.
According to the official PMI and private sector indexes published on Wednesday, activity manufacturing in China has returned to growth.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector has reached 50.1 in December, compared to 49.2 in November. It has thus surpassed the forecast of 49.4 percent of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal, after eight consecutive months below the 50-point threshold that separates expansion and contraction of activity.
At the same time, the China Non-Manufacturing PMI Index, which covers both service and construction activity improved to 50.2 in December, up from 49.5 in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The RatingDog China Manufacturing PMI, compiled by S&P Global, was 50.1 in December, compared to 49.9 in November, supported by higher volumes of new orders despite a slight decrease in new export sales.

The greenback gained 0.1% against the currency Japanese, at 156.59 yen. Around 7:40am, the euro fell by 0.1%, to 1.1739 dollar.

This morning, oil futures are falling slightly. Around 7:40 a.m., the March contract on North Sea Brent listed at London lost 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $61.26 per barrel. The contract of February on soft light crude (WTI) listed on Nymex fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $57.87 per barrel.

“Bookman Old Style”, serif">Samer Hans, market analyst at XS.com indicates that instability geopolitics in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine should normally maintaining a risk premium on crude oil prices, but fears An oversupply could limit market growth in the short term term.

For Samer Hans, the International Agency Energy forecasts that supply will exceed demand by 3.85 million barrels per day in 2026