European stock exchanges are expected to open on a hesitant note before the OPEC meeting. The Eurostoxx 50 at 3,759.54 points (-0.78%), the CAC 40 at 6,418.89 points (-0.77%), the DAX 40 at 14,340.47 points (-0.33%), the FTSE 100 at 7,532.95 points (-0.98%), the SMI at 11,494.12 points (-1.01%), the DJIA at 32.813.23 points (-0.98%) 54%), the Nasdaq at 11,994.46 points (-0.72%), the S&P 500 at 4,101.23 points (-0.75%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27.435.86 points (-0.08%).
As for exchange rates, the change compared with the close in New York is EUR/USD at 1.0656 (+0.05%), EUR/JPY at 138.58 (-0.03%), and USD/JPY at 130.04 (-0.09%).

European equity markets are expected to show little change at the opening on Thursday, as investors await the monthly meeting of OPEC+, a group bringing together the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia. At 7:40am, the CAC 40 futures contract gained 6.3 points, or 0.1%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The DAX 40 contract took 4 points, or 0.03%. The London Stock Exchange is closed on Thursday and Friday, for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Investors also monitor the monthly Opep+ meeting. While they recently anticipated a rise in production of around 400,000 barrels per day in July, as in previous months, these forecasts were undermined earlier this week by reports in the Wall Street Journal that some OPEC members were considering temporarily removing Moscow from their production agreements.
After this release, Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) fell 0.5% to 32.813.23 points. The expanded S&P 500 index fell 0.8% to 4,101.23 points. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%, at 11,994.46 points. In Asia, the main indexes fell on Thursday, in the wake of the fall in Wall Street. At the end of the session, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Hang Seng Index lost 1.8% and the Nikkei Index fell 0.3%. However, the Shanghai Composite Index was growing by 0.1%, supported by the announcement of new measures to stimulate the economy in China.
The American central bank raised its short-term key interest rate twice this year in an attempt to stop the worst inflation surge in the United States in 40 years. After keeping its benchmark rate close to zero during the pandemic, the Fed now plans to raise it to 2.5% or even more by the end of the year. However, many economists expect this monetary tightening to put a significant brake on economic activity.

The euro stabilized against the dollar on Thursday, after falling Wednesday due to expectations of a strong tightening of monetary policy by the Fed. The ISM manufacturing index in the United States exceeded expectations and the report on vacancies and labor turnover in the country confirmed that the labor market is tight, with strong data supporting the idea of a restrictive Fed, says Rodrigo Catril, strat& Exact; list of currencies at NAB, in a report. The dollar is generally strengthening due to the Fed's rising interest rate expectations, adds the strategist.

Oil prices fall on Thursday before the OPEC+ meeting. The market believes that cartel members could increase production if Russia were excluded from the Opep+ production deal, ANZ analysts say in a note. At 7:30am, the August North Sea Brent contract lost $2.12 to $114.17 per barrel. The July contract for mild mild crude oil (WTI) listed on Nymex fell by $2.22 at $113.04 per barrel.