European stocks rose; caution on Middle East unrest by Investing.com

Investing.com – European stocks edged cautiously higher on Wednesday, with investors wary of the possibility of a wider war in the Middle East pending fresh regional employment data.

At 03:05 ET (0705 GMT), Germany was trading 0.1 percent higher, France was up 0.3 percent and Britain was up 0.3 percent.

The conflict in the Middle East is escalating

European stock markets took a negative turn from Wall Street after problems in the Middle East escalated, with Iran launching a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the recent killing of Iran-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and for Israel’s deployment of ground forces in the south. Lebanon.

Iran has declared its attack over, barring further provocation, but Israel has vowed a response, potentially drawing its backer the United States into turmoil.

Eurozone unemployment data, ECB speakers will have to

Back in Europe, investors are set to digest more unemployment data as well as comments from a host of ECB speakers, including the vice president and chief economist.

The euro zone is expected to remain at 6.4% in August, with the region’s inflation rate falling below the European Central Bank’s 2/0% target, according to data released on Tuesday, a quarter point interest rate cut at the end of this Monday seems almost assured. .

Citigroup said in a note on Tuesday that it now expects the ECB to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its Oct. 17 meeting and expects further cuts in December and through early 2025 to take the rate of monetary policy at 1.5. % until September 2025.

NIKE withdraw the revenue estimate

In the corporate sector, shares of JD (NASDAQ: ) Sports Fashion ( LON: ) fell 3%, despite the British sportswear retailer beating the consensus forecast for first-half profit and saying it was on track to respect the annual indications.

However, there was less positive news overnight from heavyweight Nike (NYSE: new CEO is set to take the helm.

Crude surges in violence in the Middle East

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending significant gains from the previous session, as rising tensions in the Middle East raised fears that crude production could be disrupted from the oil-rich region.

By 3:05 a.m. ET, the contract was up 1.5% at $74.62 a barrel, while futures (WTI) traded 1.7% higher at $71.04 a barrel.

Both crude benchmarks rose more than 5 percent on Tuesday after Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

Elsewhere, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, meet later in the session, but no changes in output are expected at this time.

U.S. crude oil inventories fell by about 1.46 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 27, compared with expectations for a decline of about 2.1 million barrels, according to data from .

The government inventory report is presented later in the session.