European markets muted as investors track data, Fed minutes

Elliot Smith

European markets were flat on Wednesday as investors assessed euro zone economic data and awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes.

European markets

TICKER	COMPANY	PRICE	CHANGE	%CHANGE
.FTSE	FTSE 100	7475.98	23.14	0.31
.GDAXI	DAX	14422.35	0	0
.FCHI	CAC 40 Index	6678.16	20.63	0.31
.FTMIB	FTSE MIB	24591.66	1.16	0
.IBEX	IBEX 35 Idx	8335.8	10.8	0.13

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was little changed in early trade, with mining stocks adding 1% while utilities fell 0.7%.

The European blue chip index closed Tuesday’s session up 0.8% at its highest level in three months, while markets in Asia-Pacific advanced on Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

U.S. stock futures were fractionally higher in early premarket trade on Wednesday as investors look ahead to the publication of minutes from Fed’s November meeting, seeking clues on the direction of monetary policy.

Global markets have taken some heart from recent, lower-than-expected consumer and wholesale inflation prints in the United States, prompting bets that the Fed would have to slow its aggressive interest rate hikes.

European investors will be assessing Wednesday’s flash November PMI (purchasing managers’ index) readings from the euro zone for indications on the health of economic activity across the 19-member bloc.

Credit Suisse sees $1.6 billion fourth-quarter loss, holds shareholder vote on restructure

Credit Suisse on Wednesday projected a 1.5 billion Swiss franc ($1.6 billion) fourth-quarter loss as it undertakes a massive strategic overhaul.

The embattled lender last month announced a raft of measures to address persistent underperformance in its investment bank and a series of risk and compliance failures that have saddled it with consistently high litigation costs.

Shareholders will vote on the bank’s restructuring and capital raising plans at an extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday.

– Elliot Smith

Here are the opening calls

Britain’s FTSE 100 is seen around 12 points higher at 7,464, Germany’s DAX is set to add around 25 points to 14,447 and France’s CAC 40 is expected to gain around 15 points to 6,673.

CNBC Pro: UBS says self-driving cars could become a $100 billion market in China — and names stocks to play it

Electric vehicles are fast gaining traction, particularly in China, the largest EV market in the world.

But UBS believes autonomous driving will be an even bigger megatrend than electrification — with a market size in China alone of around $100 billion by 2030.

Here’s how investors can play this megatrend, according to UBS.

— Zavier Ong

CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley lists major firms with potential FTX exposure

Shares in Coinbase came under renewed selling pressure this week on concerns about spillover from FTX’s collapse earlier this month.

But many other companies are also exposed to FTX’s failure. Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley has identified a slew of additional firms exposed to failed crypto exchange.

— Ganesh Rao

CNBC Pro: Goldman says EV batteries are becoming ‘critical’ and names 2 stock picks

Electric vehicle batteries are gaining “critical importance” amid the energy transition, according to Goldman Sachs.

The investment bank names two top stocks to play the EV battery sector, giving one upside of nearly 70%.

— Weizhen Tan

Source : CNBC