By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – European stock markets are seen opening mixed Wednesday, with a torrent of earnings due while investors wait for the U.S. to agree its latest stimulus package.
At 2:15 AM ET (0615 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% higher, the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. fell 0.2%, while CAC 40 futures in France dropped 0.4%.
A day after European leaders signed off on their historic 750 billion-euro ($860 billion) recovery package to revive the countries hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well the bloc’s next seven-year budget, worth about 1.1 trillion euros, the focus now turns to the ratification process.
“We do not expect the national parliaments to become a hurdle, but the EU parliament may likely be disappointed regarding the size of the final budget,” said analysts at Danske Bank, in a research note.
At the same time, uncertainty reigns over the immediate prospects for more financial aid in the U.S., the largest economy in the world. In addition to major differences between the two main parties, Senate Republicans appear to be at odds both themselves and with the administration over how to craft the package.
The debate comes amid signs that the economic recovery in the U.S. is leveling off amid a second surge in coronavirus cases. The U.S. death toll hit 141,000 on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University, as the country recorded over 1,000 deaths within a 24-hour period for the first time since June.
In corporate news, Fiat Chrysler (MI:FCHA) is in the news after the automaker announced an expansion of its partnership with self-driving car company Waymo to commercial vehicles.
Industrial heavyweights Akzo Nobel (OTC:AKZOY) and ABB both beat expectations for the quarter through June, but a lot of the focus Wednesday will be on the likes of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), who are due to release earnings on Wall Street later.
Elsewhere, oil prices retraced after a bigger-than-expected crude inventory build in the United States, suggesting a dent in demand from the world’s biggest oil consumer.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. inventories rose last week by 7.5 million barrels when expectations had been for a small draw.” data-reactid=”22″>The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. inventories rose last week by 7.5 million barrels when expectations had been for a small draw.
At 2:15 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% lower at $41.69 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 0.4% to $44.13.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,860.55/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.1527, flat on the day.
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