The main indices of the European stock market ended this Tuesday’s trading session higher, driven by positive global sentiment, while investors also await important economic data forecast for the coming days.
Stocks react to US labor market data. The Jolts report showed that the country had 8.827 million open positions, the lowest number since March 2021. The data dropped interest rates on short-term Treasuries and increased bets of a break in the Fed’s monetary tightening cycle in September.
Last weekend, China announced a set of measures to stimulate its economy, including incentives for the stock market. That announcement had a positive impact on European markets, which showed gains, while UK markets remained closed yesterday due to a public holiday.
As the month draws to a close, global markets faced challenges, and now investors are keeping an eye on the upcoming economic data. One of the highlights will be the release of consumer prices for August. A slight drop in the euro zone’s annual inflation rate is expected, with the consumer price index (CPI) forecast at 5.1%, compared with 5.3% in July.
In addition, investors are looking forward to the release of US Non-Farm Payrolls. This report provides crucial information about employment and wages in the world’s largest economy, which may influence the Federal Reserve’s future decisions on interest rates.
“On Wednesday, Germany will publish its inflation data for August, followed by the second estimate of US GDP for the second quarter and the crude oil inventories from the Energy Information Administration,” says IG analyst Axel Rudolph. “On Thursday, a series of retail sales, industrial production and inflation data should keep investors busy ahead of the highly anticipated US non-farm payrolls data on Friday.”
The German GfK consumer confidence index fell to -25.5 points, worse than forecast at -23 points.