Open Market: Fortum up 4%, Accor down 6%
Fortum shares 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 shifted its shares as part of a nationalization agreement.
French hospitality company Accor saw its shares fall 6.3% in market open after JP Morgan downgraded its rating on the stock to underweight from neutral. The investment bank expressed concerns that the group would not be able to return to its previous level of profitability, saying: “Our concerns have now outweighed the reasons we like.”
– Hannah Ward-Glenton
Credit Suisse plans to split its investment bank into three parts: The FT
According to the Financial Times, Credit Suisse plans to split its investment bank into three parts.
The Swiss lender wants its own “bad bank” exclusively for risky assets to recover from several years of scandals and missteps.
New proposals suggest that Credit Suisse will sell some of its profitable units as part of the sweeping restructuring, with full plans expected to be announced at the bank’s third-quarter results on Oct. 27, the FT reported.
– Hannah Ward-Glenton
Oil prices are rising after the Fed’s rate hikes, fears of demand remain
Oil prices rose after the Fed raised interest rates for the third time in a row.
Reuters also reported that Chinese refiners expect the country to release up to 15 million tons worth of oil product export quotas for the remainder of the year, citing people familiar with 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 rate hike likely to keep Asian risk assets under pressure, says JPMorgan
According to Tai Hui, chief APAC market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, Asian risk assets, particularly export-oriented companies, will remain under pressure in the near term following the Fed’s rate hike.
Tai added that a strong US dollar is likely to continue, but monetary tightening in most Asian central banks – with the exception of China and Japan – should help limit the extent of Asian currency depreciation.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, rose sharply to last trade at 111.697.
– Abigail Ng
CNBC Pro: This fund manager is beating 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 holds a number of short positions to play around with market volatility.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
– Zavier Ong
CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson names the key attribute he likes in stocks
Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson remains defensive amid continued market volatility this year. He names the key attribute he looks for in stocks.
Stocks with this attribute have been “rewarded” this year, with the trend likely to continue until the market turns more bullish, Wilson said.
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.
According to data from IG, the UK FTSE index is expected to open 47 points lower at 7,341, the German DAX 86 points lower at 13,106, the French CAC 40 28 points and the Italian FTSE MIB 132 points lower at 22,010.
Global markets retreated after a higher-than-expected U.S. CPI report for August, which 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 that inflation would fall 0.1% on a monthly basis.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, is up 0.6% since July and 6.3% since August 2021.
UK inflation figures for August are due and July euro-zone industrial production to be released.
— Holly Ellyatt
