European equities start silently as global markets recover

European stocks began on Wednesday on a slightly cautious note, after Wall Street released Tuesday its second best trading day in 2019.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 moved around the flat line after the bell, with travel and leisure titles making a good start with a gain of 0.7% while auto sales fell 0.8% in the first few months. transactions.

On Wednesday, shares in the Asia-Pacific region climbed, building on gains in the United States on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 500 points and the other shares ended the session. on a summit. The rise in trading came after comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said the Fed was willing to ease monetary policy.

On Tuesday, the Fed Chairman said the central bank would keep an eye on the current economic developments and would do what it needs to do to "support the expansion". Powell pointed out, however, that the central bank was unable to determine when and how global trade problems would be resolved.

Meanwhile, the trade turbulence continues to shake the market climate. During his state visit to the United Kingdom, President Donald Trump reiterated his recent tariff threat on Mexico, telling reporters that his new policy "will take effect next week".

GOP Senators, however, indicated that they were not necessarily in agreement with the 5% levy on all Mexican imports. As a result, trade tensions and negotiations should remain a hot topic for the foreseeable future.

Back in Europe, Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was "attached to a phenomenal trade deal" with the UK, as the British nation was preparing to leave the European Union, adding that "we are in the UK. there was "huge potential".

While Trump finishes his visit on Wednesday, the US leader should visit France.

As far as economic data are concerned, figures for composite PMIs and services for the euro area are expected to be published this morning.

In terms of individual stocks, Norsk Hydro jumped 5% early in the session after the company's first-quarter earnings exceeded expectations, while Danish health care company Demant fell 3.1%. %. Dbadault Aviation shares rose 4.8% after Goldman Sachs improved its shares.

Volkswagen shares fell 1.1% after the German automaker announced that it would remove up to 4,000 jobs while investing 4 billion euros in a digital transformation.