mixed trend in Europe; Inflation in the UK has smashed forecasts

12:45

The stock markets in Europe continue to show relative weakness and find it difficult to gain positive momentum, against the background of the increase in bond yields in the world and the continued geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the tensions between the US and Iran.

The European STOXX 600 index traded with a moderate increase of about 0.2%, after opening the trading day with declines. The trend in the main stock exchanges on the continent remains mixed, with technology and mining stocks leading the gains, while retail and media stocks underperform.

Among the prominent indices in Europe, the French CAC 40 index rises by 0.34%, the German DAX index strengthens by 0.2%, and the Italian FTSE MIB index adds 0.37%. On the other hand, the British FTSE 100 index traded with a slight decrease of 0.08%.

In the trading background, investors continue to monitor the jump in government bond yields in the US, which raises concerns about continued inflationary pressures and prolonged tightening of monetary policy. In the US, the yield on 30-year government bonds climbed above 5.19% – the highest level since 2007 – while the yield on 10-year bonds is approaching 4.7%.

The futures contracts on the US stock indices are trading in a moderate positive trend, with the contracts on the S&P 500 index rising by about 0.2%, the contracts on the Nasdaq strengthening by about 0.5%, and the contracts on the Dow Jones index adding about 0.1%.

After the close of trading on Wall Street, Nvidia reports are expected to be published. The chip giant is expected to present another phenomenal report, on the way to a value of 5.5 trillion dollars. The company’s forecast is for revenues of 78 billion dollars – a jump of 77% compared to the corresponding quarter last year – alongside maintaining a gross profitability of 75%. The analysts are even more optimistic than the company’s forecasts, and expect that Nvidia will beat the expectations by 400 to 800 million dollars, and will present an adjusted profit per share of 1.75 dollars, compared to 76 cents in the corresponding quarter. Despite the positive expectations for the reports, the futures contracts for Nvidia stock are trading down about 0.77% in early trading.

11:35

Trading in Europe continues to be conducted in a mixed trend – the POTSI falls by about 0.3%, the DAX loses its value by about 0.1%, and the KAC rises by about 0.2%.

At the same time, the futures contracts on Wall Street are also now trading in a mixed trend – the Nasdaq is up by about 0.5%, the S&P500 index is up by about 0.2%, while the Dow Jones is trading stably.

10:35

Trading in Europe opened this morning with a mixed trend – the British FTSE is down about 0.3%, the German DAX is down about 0.1%, and the French CAC is up about 0.1%.

At the same time, inflation in Great Britain fell to 2.8% in April. Even before the data was published, economists expected the inflation rate to drop to 3%, after cooling down from 3.3% in March. This is mainly due to the energy price ceiling introduced by the British energy regulator on April 1.

Earlier, trade in Asia was locked in declines: the Nikkei plunged by about 1.3%, the Kospi lost its value by about 0.9%, the Hang Seng recorded declines of about 0.6% and Shanghai also lost 0.2%.

07:45

This morning in Asia the main stock markets are in decline: the South Korean Stock Exchange and the Japanese Stock Exchange fall by 1.6% each, the Hang Seng loses about 0.6%, and the Shanghai Index falls by about 0.4%.

Wall Street futures are down slightly by up to 0.2%.

Last night, the main indices on Wall Street closed in declines: the Dow Jones fell by 0.65%, the S&P 500 fell by 0.64%, the Nasdaq fell by 0.84%, and the Russell 2000 fell by 1.02%. The declines were influenced by the fear of renewed fighting with Iran and the resulting rise in energy prices, and due to the rise in bond yields the US government.

Technology stocks continued to lose ground – Amazon decreased 3.3%, Tesla retreated 2.8%, Alphabetical (Google) down 2%, Meta decreased 1.2%, andMicrosoft lost 1%. Nvidia decreased only 0.5% – less than expected before the quarterly report expected to be published today (Wed).

A strike involving over 47,000 workers Samsung Electronics is expected to begin tomorrow, after the salary negotiations between the company and the labor union exploded – which led to a drop of nearly 3% in the South Korean chip giant’s stock. South Korea’s National Labor Relations Board, a government body, said the union agreed to its mediation offer, but Samsung Electronics rejected it.

The planned strike is expected to be limited, after the South Korean court ruled in the past that the strike will not damage safety and security facilities and will not disrupt current work, this in order to prevent damage to infrastructure.

Union demands focused on Samsung’s performance-based bonus system; The union demands, among other things, performance bonuses in the amount of 15% of Samsung’s operating profit, the abolition of the bonus ceiling and the institutionalization of the bonus structure.

According to South Korean reports, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has hinted that the government may take emergency measures to stop the strike if it goes ahead.