The European markets are likely to open higher on Wednesday following the previous session's sell-off. However, gains are likely to remain rather modest owing to lingering concerns over Greece. Trading volumes are expected to be thin as many markets will be either shut or finish early ahead of the New Year holiday. The German market closed early on Tuesday, with the benchmark DAX posting a 2.7 percent annual gain.
Meanwhile, China's manufacturing activity contracted in December, HSBC's closely-watched purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed today, adding to signs of a protracted slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. The final PMI came in at 49.6, just below the 50 level that separates growth from contraction.
China's Shanghai Composite index is rallying 2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is moving up 0.4 percent as weak data fuelled hopes of additional policy easing. Australian shares slipped marginally and New Zealand's NZX-50 dropped 0.2 percent, while the markets in Indonesia, Japan and South Korea are closed for holidays.
The U.S. dollar weakened a little bit, copper edged down marginally and gold prices held steady after sharp gains overnight, while both Brent and U.S. crude futures are down more than a percent each on concerns about slowing demand in China.
Looking ahead, investors eye U.S. reports on jobless claims, Chicago business activity and pending home sales later in the day for further signs the American economy remains on a solid footing.
In domestic corporate news, Pironet NDH AG, a majority-owned subsidiary of Cancom SE, intends to sell its 100 percent subsidiary Imperia AG in the near future to focus on the high profitable data center services business.
Europipe GmbH, a 50/50 joint venture of the Salzgitter Group and AG der Dillinger Huttenwerke, said it had received an instruction from Amsterdam-based South Stream Transport B.V. to halt the production of steel tubes for the South Stream pipeline until further notice.
Envipco Holding N.V. announced the sale of Sorepla Technologie SA to Bouri's affiliated company ASG BV.
The European markets fell sharply on Tuesday as further declines in oil prices and renewed concerns about Greek politics sapped investors' appetite for risk on a day of very little economic or corporate news. The German DAX dropped 1.2 percent, France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.3 percent.
U.S. stocks also ended in the red overnight as continued concerns over political uncertainty in Greece overshadowed mostly positive reports on consumer confidence and home prices. The Dow slid 0.3 percent to close below 18,000 for the first time in about a week, the S&P 500 shed half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.6 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com