European stock markets are expected to open near breakeven on Thursday, as investors await the start of the Federal Reserve (Fed) symposium in Jackson Hole. During the day, they will also examine a series of activity indicators on both sides of the Atlantic.

Around 7:30am, the CAC 40 futures contract lost 0.1%, according to data from broker IG.

While all eyes are on the big meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, European index futures are not changing much on Thursday morning.

Around 7:30 a.m., the DAX 40 futures contract in Frankfurt gave up less than 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 in London jumped 0.1%, according to data from broker IG.W

Central bankers and economists are meeting in Jackson Hole for the annual Fed Economic Policy Symposium, which opens this Thursday. The President of the American Central Bank, Jerome Powell, will speak at the event on Friday. Investors will be watching his intervention for clues about a possible reduction in interest rates in September.
On Wednesday, the New York Stock Exchange closed mostly in the red after the release of the Fed minutes, which highlighted broad support for the status quo on rates in July.
The Dow Jones index fell by less than 0.1% to 44,938.31 points, while the S&P 500 fell by 0.2% to 6,395.78 points. Again under pressure after dropping out the day before, the Nasdaq Composite, rich in technological stocks, fell by 0.7% to 21,172.86 points.
American indexes also reacted to a series of quarterly publications in the retail sector. Target fell by 6.3% after the appointment of a new CEO, while Lowe's advanced by 0.3% after announcing an acquisition of nearly $9 billion. Walmart (+1.3%) will present its accounts on Thursday before Wall Street opens.

In Asia, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 0.7% on Thursday at the end of trading. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.5%, while the Hang Seng on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell by 0.1%.

The two-year stock rate lost 0.7 basis points to 3.76%. At around 7:30am, the 10-year US Treasury bond rate was unchanged at 4.30%.

The greenback gained 0.1% against the Japanese currency, at 147.42 yen. At around 7:30am, the euro was stable at 1.1648 dollars.

This morning, oil prices are rising. According to Julian Pineda, a market analyst at

Around 7:30am, the October North Sea Brent contract listed in London gained 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $67.12 per barrel. The October contract for light sweet crude (WTI) listed on Nymex rose by 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $63.02

According to Julian Pineda, investors are closely watching the situation in Ukraine, where rising tensions could lead to new sanctions against Russia and affect oil flows globally.

Russia warned on Wednesday that it should have an effective veto over any action to help Ukraine after the conclusion of a peace agreement, which would void the security guarantees for Kiev considered by the West of their substance and deal a blow to the negotiations defended by US President Donald Trump.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, for his part rejected the idea of an imminent summit between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. The White House announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a summit in the near future, but Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin had simply agreed to raise the level of its representation