Wall Street is expected to fall and European stock markets are down Friday mid-session, the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic, especially in China, taking precedence over the presentation of an economic recovery project unsurprisingly in the United States where results from several banks and a series of statistics are on the menu.

New York index futures are signaling a Wall Street open down 0.4% for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones and 0.2% for the Nasdaq.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 1.15% to 5,615.88 around 12:08 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax lost 0.96% and in London, the FTSE dropped 0.84%.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index is down 0.64%, the eurozone's EuroStoxx 50 is down 0.86% and the Stoxx 600 is down 0.8%.

China on Friday recorded the highest number of daily cases of COVID-19 in more than 10 months due to an outbreak in the northeast of the country where more than 28 million people have been placed in lockdown.

In France, a curfew from 18:00 will be extended Saturday to the whole territory for at least two weeks and in Germany, Angela Merkel would consider tightening restrictions to limit social interactions while the threshold of two million cases has been crossed in Europe's largest economy.

To compensate for the economic damage of the health crisis, Joe Biden unveiled Thursday a draft stimulus plan of $ 1.9 trillion (1.562 billion euros) including $ 1,400 in aid to Americans and the increase and extension of unemployment benefit.

"Most of the measures announced were quite in line with expectations. There were few details about future long-term spending commitments for infrastructure and other types of investments, including education, energy and green investments, but this should be done once Joe Biden sets foot under the Oval Office." said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.

The session on Wall Street will also be animated by several US economic indicators, including retail sales and industrial production figures in December.

STOCKS TO WATCH ON WALL STREET

J.P. Morgan, the first major U.S. bank to release its fourth-quarter results, reported an increase in quarterly profit thanks to the dynamism of its trading activities and its investment banking division.

Citigroup and Wells Fargo will also release before Wall Street opens.

VALUES IN EUROPE

All the major sectors of the European stock market are in the red, with the largest declines being oil and gas (-0.88%) and raw materials (-0.98%).

In Paris, the biggest drop in the CAC 40 was for Carrefour, which continued its decline and lost 4.74%, the French government having reaffirmed its opposition to a takeover of the group by a foreign player.

Bouygues fell 2.61% after the presentation of the strategic plan of its telecommunications branch, which disappointed some investors.

In Frankfurt, Siemens Energy lost 5.88% after General Electric accused one of the subsidiaries of the German competitor of using stolen confidential information to win contracts.

On the upside, Valeo takes 0.56% after preliminary results better than expected for the second half of 2020.

DBV Technologies jumped 37.53% after the announcement of encouraging exchanges with the US drug agency in connection with its application for a license of biologics for its treatment of peanut allergy.

rate

In the bond market, the yield on ten-year Treasuries fell nearly two basis points to 1.1039% after recovering four basis points on Thursday. In Europe, that of the Bund of the same maturity is up slightly to -0.544%.

The ten-year BTP rate is falling again after taking more than five points the day before due to political uncertainties in Italy after the departure of ministers from Matteo Renzi's party from the ruling coalition.

The President of the Council, Giuseppe Conte, does not intend to resign and will address the Parliament on Monday, announced the Presidency of the Republic, and his statement will be followed by a vote of confidence.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

The dollar is trying to continue its rebound against the other major currencies (+0.23%} but it had a hesitant start to the session after the statements Thursday of Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, which clearly suggest that the US central bank is very far from considering a recovery e rates and a decrease in its bond purchases.

However, the greenback is benefiting from the rise in US bond yields recorded the day before. The euro thus returns to 1.2121 dollar, not far from the low of a month touched on Thursday.

Sterling is falling after britain's gross domestic product (GDP) estimate for November, contracting for the first time since April.

petroleum

Oil prices are in the red as concerns about the lockdown of several Chinese cities have taken over optimism fueled by the record level of crude imports into China in 2020.

Brent lost 1.67% to $55.48 a barrel and U.S. light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.4% below $53.