At the opening, European equity markets should be hesitant. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,384.86 points (-0.20%), the CAC 40 at 7,538.71 points (-0.14%), the DAX 40 at 15,795.97 points (-0.62%), the FTSE 100 at 7,899.49 points (+0.01%), the SMI at 11,390.64 points (+0.21%), the AEX at 761.10 points (+0.01%), the SMI at 11,390.64 points (+0.21%), the AEX at 761.10 points (+0.01%). 0.12%), the BEL 20 at 3,824.19 points (-0.37%), the IBEX 35 at 9,450.90 points (-0.46%), the DJIA at 33,786.62 points (-0.33%), the Nasdaq at 12.059,56 points (-0.80%), the S&P 500 at 4,129.79 points (-0.60%), and the Nikkei 225 at 28,574.27 points (-0.29%

As for exchange rates, the change from the close mentions that in New York, EUR/USD is at 1.0960 (-0.10%), EUR/JPY at 146.70 (-0.38%), and USD/JPY at 133.86 (-0.29%).

Last night, the manufacturer of corrective lenses and optical instruments EssilorLuxottica reported sales that exceeded analysts' expectations for the first quarter, thanks in particular to accelerated growth in emerging countries. Its turnover was 6.15 billion euros, up 9.7% over one year. After recording stable sales in the first quarter, Fnac Darty confirmed its medium-term financial objectives as well as for the current year on Thursday.

In addition, the group has reached an agreement with MediaMarktSaturn, a subsidiary of Ceconomy, with the aim of acquiring 100% of the German group's activities in Portugal. On the other hand, digital support service provider Solutions 30 published deteriorated results for fiscal 2022 yesterday. It confirmed its activity target for 2023. The group posted a net loss of 50.1 million euros in 2022, compared with a net profit of 21.5 million euros the previous year. For their part, L'Oréal, Interparfum and Icade are holding their annual general meetings today. The provisional PMIs for the month of April will appear at 9:15am on the macroeconomic level. Economists estimate that the manufacturing sector PMI would fall to 48 from 47.3 in March, while the services PMI would fall to 53.9 from 55.

As recession fears increase, European equity markets are expected to move hesitantly when they open on Friday. Around 7:20am, the CAC 40 futures contract gained 7.2 points, or 0.1%, according to data from the IG broker. The DAX 40 lost 128.5 points, or 0.08%, and the FTSE 100 contract gained 2.3 points, or 0.03%.

Today, the markets are paying attention to the publication of the provisional PMI indices for Germany and the eurozone, then to those of the United States. After disappointing corporate results and economic indicators that fuelled recession fears, the New York Stock Exchange closed lower on Thursday. Last week in the United States, investors reacted in particular to an increase in unemployment registrations (+5,000), as well as a deterioration in the Conference Board's leading indicator and a 2.4% drop in sales of older homes in March.

Disappointing corporate results have reinforced concerns that efforts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to fight inflation by raising interest rates are pushing the U.S. economy into recession. The main Asian stock exchanges are retreating in the wake of Wall Street. The Hang Seng on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell 0.8%, the Nikkei Index lost 0.3% in Tokyo and the Shanghai Composite Index

After suffering their biggest fall since early April on Thursday, hampered by fears of an economic recession, US Treasury bond rates were virtually unchanged this morning. BMO Capital Markets believes that US government bonds “outperformed on Thursday, supported by several second-tier economic indicators, but their evolution was explained more by technical than fundamental factors.” The 2-year US Treasury rate was almost stable at 4.137% and the 10-year US Treasury rate fell 1 basis point to 3.529%

This morning, the euro fell against the dollar and the yen. The greenback is also losing ground against the Japanese currency. The yen benefits from the risk aversion caused by the fall in the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. For Commerzbank, risk aversion has been the dominant topic since the opening of

As investors assess the risks of economic recession in the current context of rising interest rates, oil futures fell slightly this morning. The trend is also influenced by signs of a slowdown in the labor market in the United States, where the number of unemployment benefit claims increased more than expected during the week ending April 15, according to ANZ. Investors did not take into account the declared desire of the United States to buy crude oil during the third quarter in order to replenish its strategic reserves of black gold, according to ANZ. He also estimates that “the recent fall in prices has affected the gains that followed the announcement of the surprise decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut production” by more than one million barrels per day starting next month

The June contract for light sweet crude (WTI) traded on Nymex also lost 10 cents at $77.27 per barrel and the North Sea Brent contract of the same maturity lost 10 cents to $81 per barrel at 7:30am.