European stocks showed a lackluster performance at the beginning of trading on Wednesday, as the momentum that drove the market up at the end of last year seemed to be fading. Investors are awaiting key indicators throughout the day that could determine the global monetary policy direction. The Stoxx 600 index was stable at 08:10 GMT after starting the first trading session of the new year on a weak note on Tuesday. The index rose by 12.7% in 2023, driven by increasing expectations of interest rate cuts.
Investors are looking forward to the release of unemployment data in Germany and the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for Switzerland for December. Attention is also focused on a key jobs report in the United States and the minutes of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting from December.
Maersk shares rose by 4.2% after Goldman Sachs upgraded its recommendation for the shipping company's stock to "neutral" from "sell," citing increased shipping rates due to disruptions in the Red Sea region. Meanwhile, shares of French IT company Atos jumped 3.1% due to plans to hold technical inspection talks with Airbus regarding the sale of its large data and security unit. However, shares of ASML, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, declined by 1.3% for the second consecutive day following the partial revocation of the Dutch government’s export license for some shipments to China.
