LIVE MARKETS-Europe before the bell: Heading for an ugly open
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Europe before the bell: Heading for an ugly open
European equity futures are taking a dive on Thursday as expectations for an imminent end to the war in Iran were dimmed after U.S. President Trump's address overnight.
Trump poured cold water on a swift end to the war as he vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran. Market participants had been prepping for Trump to provide more concrete details of an exit plan.
The lack of anything substantial in the speech has sent crude prices surging higher, lifted the dollar and weighed on global equities.
"We see the speech as near-term bearish for risk assets, particularly given unresolved escalation paths and the absence of a credible diplomatic exit," Jefferies strategists said in a note.
"While upside scenarios exist, notably clearer U.S. objectives and the degradation of Iran’s military capacity, these are unlikely to anchor markets until conflict intensity visibly declines."
Euro STOXX 50 futures STXEc1 are down about 2%. The index has risen over 4% this week in anticipation of an end to the war soon.
Futures on the DAX FDXc1, CAC FCEc1 and FTSE FFIc1 are down between 0.8% and 1.8%.
Wall Street futures EScv1 are down about 1.5%, while Asia-Pacific .MIAPJ0000PUS stocks fell sharply overnight.
Brent LCOc1 and U.S. crude futures CLc1 are up by over 6% each, and the dollar index =USD has risen over 0.5%.
(Samuel Indyk)
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