Title: European Stock Futures Mixed; Caution Ahead of Jackson Hole Gathering

Aug 24, 2022 02:04AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

European stock markets are expected to open mixed on Wednesday as new hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official prompt caution.

At 02:05 GMT, the DAX futures contract in Germany was trading 0.1% higher, while the CAC 40 futures contract in France was down 0.1% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the UK was down 0.1%.

On Wednesday, major European indices are expected to trade in a narrow range after another Fed official suggested that the Fed's aggressive monetary tightening will continue into September.

Those comments, the latest in a series of hawkish Fed statements, mean investors are cautious ahead of the central bank's meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later in the week, expecting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to deliver a message of aggressive tightening and dash hopes of a rate cut next year.

In Europe, inflation is nearing double digits, gas prices are rising as the war in Ukraine turns six months old, and Eurozone business activity contracted for a second straight month in August, suggesting a recession is looming.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, giving back some of their strong gains from the previous session as traders reassessed the chances of an imminent output cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry body, showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.6 million barrels in the week to Aug. 19, far more than the 450,000-barrel drawdown expected. The official data is due later on Wednesday.

As of 02:05 GMT, US crude futures were trading 0.1% higher at $93.62 a barrel, while the Brent contract was down 0.2% at $100.04. Both benchmarks rose just under 4% in the previous session.

In addition, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,757.50/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% lower to 0.9941.