Concerned about the rise in Covid cases in China, European equity markets are expected to open lower. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,924.84 points (+1.20%), the CAC 40 at 6,644.46 points (+1.04%), the DAX 40 at 14,431.86 points (+1.16%), the FTSE 100 at 7,385.52 points (+0.53%), the SMI at 11,045.49 points (+1.17%), the AEX at 712.55 points (+0.53%), the SMI at 11,045.49 points (+1.17%), the AEX at 712.55 points (+0.53%), the SMI at 11,045.49 points (+1.17%), the AEX at 712.55 points (+0.53%) 0.59%), the BEL 20 at 3,651.97 points (+1.45%), the IBEX 35 at 8,127.80 points (+1.08%), the DJIA at 33,745.69 points (+0.59%), the Nasdaq at 11,146.06 points (+0.01%), the S&P 500 at 3,965.34 points (+0.48%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27.01% 944, 79 points (+0.16%).

As for exchange rates, the change from the close mentions that in New York, EUR/USD is at 1,0283 (-0.42%), EUR/JPY at 144.49 (-0.32%), and USD/JPY at 140.51 (+0.08%).

Vallourec's third-quarter results were released today. In the evening of Friday, the seamless tube manufacturer announced that an agreement had been reached between the management of Vallourec Deutschland and employee representatives as part of the shutdown of activities in Germany. According to the group, a social plan and the corresponding collective agreement have been signed.

In a press release, Vallourec said that “this signing marks the end of a six-month negotiation phase, with a view to obtaining financial compensation and appropriate social measures, for the 2,400 employees of Vallourec Deutschland at the Dusseldorf-Rath and Mülheim an der Ruhr sites.” He thus added that production would stop at the end of 2023. Over 700 million euros of losses were accumulated on Vallourec's activities in Germany during the period 2015-2021.

Amid continuing concerns about the increase in Covid-19 cases in China, European equity markets are expected to open lower today. The DAX 40 futures contract dropped 45 points, or 0.3%, while the FTSE 100 futures contract dropped 15 points, or 0.2%. Data from the IG Markets broker mentions that at 7:40am, the CAC 40 futures contract lost 17 points, or 0.3%.

The Nikkei Index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed 0.2% higher on Monday while the Hang Seng Index dropped 1.6% late in trading in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite fell by 0.6% in Asia. Wall Street finished higher in the United States on Friday. It was at the end of a difficult week due to economic uncertainty and the restrictive remarks made by several Federal Reserve (Fed) officials. The Dow Jones index fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 lost 1.6% and the Nasdaq fell by 0.7% over the week as a whole. The expanded S&P 500 index gained 0.5%, the Dow Jones Index (DJIA) gained 0.6%, and the Nasdaq, rich in technology stocks, ended up in balance.

The Walt Disney board of directors announced late Sunday night on Monday that it had replaced CEO Bob Chapek with Robert Iger, the group's former chief executive who left at the end of last year. Susan Arnold, Disney's chairwoman of the board of directors, said in a statement that “the board of directors has come to the conclusion that as Disney is embarking on a complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is in the best position to lead the company during this pivotal period.”

The president of the Boston Federal Reserve (Fed), Susan Collins, said the US central bank would study all possible rate hikes in December, including by 75 basis points. As a result, US Treasury bond yields jumped on Friday. Oanda believes that “The Fed is sticking to the restrictive scenario. Susan Collins pointed out that a 75 basis point rate hike was still under consideration, as there was no evidence that inflation was slowing. Despite the restrictive tone of the central bankers [last week], Wall Street remains convinced that the Fed will swing and will likely start cutting rates towards the end of next year.”

Due to a general sense of risk aversion in the markets, the dollar rose against the euro this morning.
The greenback also benefits from the stabilization of US Treasury bond yields and the end of the rebound in risk assets, according to Capital Economics estimates. The analyst office for its part believes that “Fed members have rejected any new hope of an imminent change in monetary policy.”

Due to demand concerns in China, oil prices fell on Monday. National Australia Bank (NAB) says the near-term crude outlook seems to have deteriorated. He pointed out that the uncertainty linked to Chinese demand, given the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country.

Oil prices fell on Monday due to demand concerns in China. The January contract for light sweet crude (WTI) traded on Nymex lost 40 cents to $79.71 per barrel while the North Sea Brent contract for the same term fell 54 cents to $87.08 per barrel.