European markets open for closing, BOE and SNB interest rate decisions
Open market: Fortum up 4%, Accor down 6%
Shares in Fortum rose again in early trade on Thursday after the Finnish company agreed to sell its 56% stake in German utility Uniper to the German government. The state-owned energy company moved its stake in a nationalization agreement.
French hospitality company Accor saw shares fall 6.3% at the market open after JP Morgan cut its rating on the stock from neutral to underweight. The investment bank expressed concern that the group would not be able to return to its previous level of profitability, saying “our concerns have now exceeded the reasons we like it.”[ads1];
—Hannah Ward-Glenton
Credit Suisse plans to split its investment bank into three: FT
Credit Suisse plans to split its investment bank into three, according to the Financial Times.
The Swiss lender wants to have its own “bad bank” exclusively for risky assets as it recovers from years of scandals and blunders.
New proposals suggest Credit Suisse will sell some of its profitable units as part of the radical restructuring, with full plans expected to be announced at the bank’s third-quarter results on October 27, the FT reported.
—Hannah Ward-Glenton
Oil prices rise after the Fed’s interest rate hikes, fears about demand persist
Oil prices rose after the Fed’s third interest rate hike in a row.
Reuters also reported that Chinese refiners expect the nation to release up to 15 million tonnes of oil product export quotas for the rest of the year, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Brent crude futures rose 0.45% to $90.24 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate also rose 0.45% to $83.3 a barrel.
– Lee Ying Shan
Fed hike likely to keep Asian risk assets under pressure, JPMorgan says
Asian risk assets, particularly export-oriented companies, will remain under pressure in the near term following the Fed’s rate hike, according to Tai Hui, chief APAC market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
Tai added that a strong US dollar is likely to persist, but monetary tightening in most Asian central banks – with the exception of China and Japan – should help limit the extent of Asian currency weakness.
The US dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of its peers, strengthened sharply and last stood at 111.697.
— Abigail Of
CNBC Pro: This fund manager beats the market. Here’s what he’s betting against
Equity markets are down, but the fund managed by Patrick Armstrong at Plurimi Wealth continues to deliver positive returns. The fund manager has a number of short positions to play the market volatility.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson names the key attributes he likes in stocks
Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson is staying defensive amid continued market volatility this year. He mentions the key attribute he looks for in stocks.
Stocks with this trait have been “rewarded” this year, with the trend likely to persist until the market turns more bullish, according to Wilson.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European stocks are expected to open in negative territory on Wednesday as investors react to the latest US inflation data.
Britain’s FTSE index is expected to open 47 points lower at 7,341, Germany’s DAX 86 points lower at 13,106, France’s CAC 40 down 28 points and Italy’s FTSE MIB 132 points lower at 22,010, according to data from IG.
Global markets have pulled back after a higher-than-expected U.S. consumer price index report for August showed prices rose 0.1% for the month and 8.3% annually in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday, defying economists’ expectations for headline inflation. will fall 0.1% month-on-month.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.6% from July and 6.3% from August 2021.
UK inflation figures for August are out, and Eurozone industrial production for July will be published.
—Holly Ellyatt