European Stocks To Open Weak

European stocks are expected to open muted as markets digest the ECB’s commentary a day ago. On Thursday, the European Central Bank said it would slow down on bond purchases under the 1.85 trillion-euro Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). Last two quarters had witnessed monthly volumes of almost 80 billion euros on the bond purchase.

Overnight, the U.S. benchmarks had closed weak as traders weighed in delta virus-impacted growth concerns as well as a lower jobless claims reading. Nasdaq-100 closed at 15,561.05, around 0.38 percent lower than the previous close whereas Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 34,879.38, down from the earlier close by 0.43 percent.

Thursday, European indices had closed mostly negative after the European Central Bank announced that it would slow down its current pace of asset accumulation (Euro bonds). U.K.’s FTSE100 shed 1.01 percent; Switzerland’s SMI 20 corrected by 0.81 percent; German DAX-30 declined 0.15 percent; and the pan-European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.06 percent. France’s CAC-40 withstood the bearishness to close with a gain of 0.24 percent.

Dollar index is currently at 92.49 versus 92.479 on the previous day. The EURUSD pair is hovering near 1.1829 versus the previous close of 1.1825. The GBPUSD pair is at 1.3845 as compared to the previous close of 1.3835.

Gold futures for December settlement are trading at $1800.35 per troy ounce, about 0.02 percent higher than the previous close. The yellow metal remains close to the previous day’s levels in the absence of significant movements in the greenback’s strength.

WTI Crude for October settlement is trading at $68.44, up 0.44 percent from the previous close. Brent Crude for November settlement is trading at $71.84, up 0.55 percent from the previous close. The uptick in crude is despite reports of China’s decision to release crude from its strategic reserve supply and warnings of declining ticket sales from some U.S. airlines.

American stock futures are in mild positive territory. Asian markets too are mostly in positive territory. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading higher by 1.10 percent; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is advancing by 1.75 percent; Australia’s ASX 200 is gaining 0.64 percent; China’s Shanghai Composite is trending higher by 0.43 percent; and South Korea’s Kospi is gaining 0.34 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 is however declining by 0.04 percent.

Earnings are due today from U.K. based software provider Renalytix AI plc as well as mobile payment platform provider Bango plc.

Germany awaits consumer price inflation as well as harmonized inflation numbers for August today.

U.K awaits release of economic indicators related to balance of trade, industrial production, GDP, manufacturing production, construction output, goods trade balance for the month of July and NIESR Monthly GDP tracker for August.

France’s industrial production numbers for July are also due today.

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