Stock market: Europe set for a weak start; the Anthropic effect fails to take hold

Euro Stoxx futures down, oil prices up slightly

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock markets are set to open lower following the previous day’s gains, which were buoyed by renewed optimism surrounding AI following Anthropic’s application for a listing. Euro Stoxx futures are down 0.6 per cent, FTSE MIB futures 0.3 per cent and French futures 0.4 per cent, whilst the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed higher (+1.7 per cent) and the KOSPI gained ground, buoyed by tech shares. It was the same story yesterday on Wall Street, which broke a losing streak of two consecutive sessions. Today, all eyes are on the parliamentary elections in Israel, seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which will shape the next geopolitical moves. The price of oil is up slightly, whilst fresh diplomatic efforts in the Middle East are fuelling hopes of containing a further escalation of the conflict between Washington and Tehran. In France, meanwhile, a vote on the budget bill is expected against a backdrop of a general fall in bond yields. All this comes on the eve of the Federal Reserve’s decision, with most market participants expecting interest rates to remain unchanged following the previous rise in September. This, alongside the quarterly results from Alphabet and Microsoft (tomorrow), followed on Thursday by Amazon and Intel, will provide fresh clues as to whether the technology sector can recover from its recent weakness.

On the energy front, the December Brent futures contract is up to over $116 per barrel (+0.4 per cent), whilst the WTI futures contract for the same month is trading at around $102 (+0.3 per cent). Gas prices in Amsterdam are also continuing to rise, standing at 96.7 euros per megawatt-hour. On the currency markets, the euro/dollar exchange rate is down slightly at 1.1161.

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