European markets head for lower open as investors focus on Fed meeting this week

Holly Ellyatt

European markets are heading for a lower open Monday as investors focus on the next U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that begins Tuesday. The two-day meeting will conclude with the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee announcing its latest interest rate decision.

The Fed is expected to hike rates by one-quarter of a percentage point. Investors will be looking for clues about how much higher the central bank will take rates in the fight against inflation.

Overnight in the Asia-Pacific region, stocks traded mostly lower on Monday as shares of Adani Group remained volatile after the conglomerate rebutted short seller firm Hindenburg’s accusations of embezzlement and fraud.

U.S. stock futures were modestly lower on Sunday evening as investors geared up for a week of key corporate earnings and the possible interest rate hike from the Fed.

Oil to approach $100 per barrel by second half of 2023, RBC Capital Markets forecasts

Oil prices could approach $100 per barrel in the second half of the year, according to RBC Capital Markets’ Michael Tran.                         

“The bottom line here is that China is going to be buying a lot of crude over the course of the next several months,” he said.

Brent crude futures last traded flat at $86.85 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures inched up 0.09% to $79.75 a barrel.

Investors and OPEC+ will also be waiting to see if EU’s embargo on Russian oil products, which kicks in this Sunday, will lead to any major disruptions. The oil cartel is not expected to make any real changes to their quotas or production guidance in an upcoming meeting, Tran forecasts.

—Lee Ying Shan

Adani Enterprises tick up while group affiliates continue plunge

Shares of Adani Enterprises rose 10% after seeing sharp-losses in the previous sessions as its Chief Financial Officer voiced confidence in its follow-on public offering that is slated to close on Jan. 31. The stock is is still down more than 20% in the first month of the year.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone also saw modest gains of 9% in India’s first hour of trade and remains 23% lower year-to-date.

Adani Green Energy remained volatile and last traded 10% lower, Adani Power lost 5% and Adani Transmission also lost 17%.

India’s Nifty 50 Index traded 0.6% higher on Monday after hitting three-month lows on last weeks rout of Adani shares.

— Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Goldman Sachs names tech stocks with a ‘strong runway’ for growth — giving one upside of nearly 70%

One corner of tech might be seeing “limited appetite” from the market, according to Goldman Sachs. But the investment bank is optimistic.

It names stocks with near-term opportunity, as well as “offensive picks” it says can beat their peers as the economy recovers.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are heading for a lower open Monday as investors focus on the next U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, which begins Tuesday. The two-day meeting will conclude with an announcement of the central bank’s latest interest rate decision.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 13 points lower at 7,745, Germany’s DAX 22 points lower at 15,122, France’s CAC down 9 points at 7,083 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 17 points at 26,339, according to data from IG.

Earnings come from Ryanair and Philips. Spain releases preliminary inflation data for January.

— Holly Ellyatt

Source : cnbc