European markets set for mixed open as investors digest major earnings, await Fed decision
- It's a huge day for earnings in Europe, with Deutsche Bank, Barclays, British American Tobacco, GlaxoSmithKline, Rio Tinto, BASF and Santander publishing results.
- Focus will also turn to the Federal Open Market Committee's interest rate decision and subsequent statement, with investors looking for clues as to the timeline for monetary policy tightening.
LONDON — European markets are set for a muted open on Wednesday amid a busy day for major corporate earnings, while investors await a key policy announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Britain's FTSE 100 is seen around 3 points lower at 6,993, Germany's DAX is set to gain around 22 points to 15,541 and France's CAC 40 is expected to climb around 15 points to 6,547, according to IG data.
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower on Wednesday as Hong Kong's Hang Seng index struggled to rebound from a two-day rout. U.S. stock futures also pointed to a negative open on Wall Street, after the major averages snapped a five-day winning streak on Tuesday.
Focus stateside will turn to the Federal Open Market Committee's interest rate decision and subsequent statement, with investors looking for clues as to the timeline for monetary policy tightening. A deluge of major corporate earnings is also expected in the U.S., with Facebook, McDonald's, Ford, Pfizer and Boeing among those reporting on Wednesday.
It's also a huge day for earnings in Europe, with Deutsche Bank, Barclays, British American Tobacco, GlaxoSmithKline, Rio Tinto, BASF and Santander set to publish results.
Deutsche Bank posted a massive profit beat for the second quarter, despite its all-important investment banking arm suffering a slide in revenues. The German lender reported a net income of 692 million euros ($818 million), smashing through analyst estimates of 328 million euros, according to data collected by Refinitiv.
The impact of Covid-19 continues to cloud the market outlook in Europe. The U.K. on Tuesday reported its highest death toll from the virus since March despite falling cases, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urge caution.
In corporate news, Reuters reported Tuesday that a consortium led by German carmaker Volkswagen is in advanced talks to buy French car rental company Europcar for around 2.5 billion euros.
On the data front, Italian business and consumer confidence surveys for July are due later on Wednesday morning.
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