By James Langton
(August 22 – 09:00 ET) – There are no major economic releases out this morning ahead of the U.S. FOMC announcement on rates due at about 14:15 ET today.
No one is expecting a hike, but the policy directive will catch attention, a move to neutral or dovish would likely spark a rally, but that isn’t anticipated either. Labour market tightness will likely keep traders hawkish.
Stocks are mixed in Europe with telecoms rallying, but banks are sliding. In London, the FTSE is up 29 points to 6,571. In Paris, the CAC 40 is off 14 points to 6,557, and Frankfurt’s DAX is up 42 points to 7,242.
UBS AG is sending bank stocks lower after it announced that institutional clients have pulled US$11.5 billion after some poor investment results.
Telecoms are strong on news that France Telecom SA is planning an IPO of its wireless unit in the fourth quarter. The deal could garner as much as US$12.6 billion to help pay for new wireless licenses across Europe.
Crude oil is up again with Hurricane Debby threatening a large refinery, sparking supply concerns.
Overnight in Asia stocks were up. The Nikkei added 415 points to 16,454. The Hang Seng added 167 to 17,668.
In other news, Bank of Montreal is expected to announce third quarter results at 14:30 ET today.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is reporting that net earnings for the current quarter were $1 million, up $5.6 million from the $4.6 million loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2000.