Today’s Stock Exchanges, July 25th. Beijing promises stimuli, euphoric Chinese price lists. Caution in the West while waiting for the central banks

Expected cautious departure in Europe

In the aftermath of a session in which the slowdown in European manufacturing weighed on the indices, the European stock markets are moving towards a cautious opening, with their eyes already focused on the meetings of the federal reserve and the ECB. Markets are waiting for new rate hikes, probably by 25 basis points from both central banks. Important indications will also come from the industrial and financial front, as the season of quarterly reports gets underway (in Milan, especially Italgas and Poste Italiane are in the spotlight). In the meantime, the futures of the euro stoxx 50 are at parity, as are those of the cac 40 of paris and the dax 40 of frankfurt, while those of the ftse mib of milan rise by 0.13% and those of the ftse 100 of london by 0.1%. Madrid’s ibex 35 futures are down 0.49%. Oil prices rose slightly: September WTI futures rose by 0.25% to 78.94 dollars a barrel, those of Brent with the same maturity by 0.3% to 82.99 dollars. Gas prices are also on the rise: the August contracts traded in Amsterdam, after having scored a first position at 30.5 euros per megawatt hour, rose by 7.6% to 30.31 euros. On the currency, the single currency remains above 1.1 on the greenback and changes hands at 1.108 dollars (1.112 at yesterday’s close). Also worth 156.78 yen (from 157.63). The dollar/yen exchange rate is at 141.476.