Europeans stocks are set to fall sharply on Thursday after Fed chief Bernanke hinted at reducing the current pace of bond purchases if the labor market continued improving. The European markets closed Wednesday's session in positive territory, reacting to Bernanke's initial comments that a premature tightening of monetary policy carries a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery. In a question-and-answer session with lawmakers later in the day, Bernanke sent a mixed message saying the Fed could consider reducing the pace of asset purchases in the next few meetings.
Asian stocks are falling across the board, with Japan's Nikkei index tumbling over 6 percent and the markets in Australia, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan losing about 2 percent each, as investors weighed remarks by Bernanke and weak Chinese factory activity data.
China's manufacturing activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May, reflecting slower domestic demand and ongoing external headwinds, preliminary results of a survey by Markit Economics showed. The headline purchasing managers' index, an indicator of the health of the factory sector, fell to 49.6 from 50.4 in April.
Traders await U.S. data on weekly jobless claims and new home sales later in the day, although upbeat data may be viewed negatively in light of the comments from the Fed.
In domestic corporate news, Swiss Life Holding AG reported a 14 percent increase in total first-quarter premium income to 6.97 billion Swiss francs from 6.11 billion francs in the year-ago period.
French oil services firm Technip has secured a lump-sum turnkey contract for flares modification in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Carrefour SA announced the sale of its 25 percent stake in a Middle Eastern join venture for 530 million euros to its regional partner, Majid Al Futtaim Holding.
Ocean Rig, a subsidiary of Greece-based dry bulk shipping company DryShips Inc., reported a turnaround to profit in the first quarter on strong revenue growth from drilling contracts.
SBM Offshore N.V. reported a 35 percent jump in its first-quarter consolidated turnover to US$1.00 billion compared to US$739 million last year.
U.S. stocks fell sharply overnight after minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed some officials were open to scaling back stimulus measures as early as June. The Dow slid half a percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 0.8 percent.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.