OPEC+ agreed in early October to reduce production by 2 million barrels per day from November. It came despite calls from the U.S. for OPEC+ to pump more to lower fuel prices and help the global economy.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n
LONDON \u2014 European stocks are expected to open broadly lower on Wednesday as investors await earnings reports and react to the United Arab Emirates’ shock exit from the OPEC oil cartel. <\/p>\n
The U.K.’s FTSE 100<\/a> index is seen opening 0.15% lower, Germany’s DAX<\/a> flat, France’s CAC 40<\/a>\u00a0down 0.14% and Italy’s FTSE MIB<\/a> down 0.37%, according to data from IG.<\/p>\n European bourses look set to follow their Asia-Pacific counterparts<\/a> lower at the open, with global markets trading in negative territory after the latest upheaval to hit oil producing group OPEC, as well as a report that pointed to weakness in OpenAI.<\/p>\n OPEC is in the spotlight after the UAE announced on Tuesday that it will exit the oil-producing cartel on May 1 in a major blow to the group that coordinates production among the world’s largest oil producers, particularly those in the Middle East.<\/p>\n The move complicates the outlook for oil supply. While the UAE \u2014 currently OPEC’s largest oil producer\u2014could move to boost production after its exit, global flows remain severely constrained by the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n European investors will be looking out for key earnings reports on Wednesday with a number of major companies set to report, including UBS<\/a>, TotalEnergies<\/a>, Iberdrola<\/a>, Lloyds Banking Group<\/a>, Deutsche Bank<\/a>, Mercedes-Benz Group<\/a>, Porsche<\/a>, Swedbank<\/a>, Adidas<\/a>, Michelin<\/a>, Norsk Hydro<\/a> and Carlsberg<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n Investors are also keeping an eye on tech stocks after the\u00a0Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> on Tuesday\u00a0that OpenAI’s revenue and new user growth were below internal targets. <\/p>\n CFO Sarah Friar reportedly told company leadership that she was concerned OpenAI may not be able to pay computing contracts in the future if its top line doesn’t expand fast enough.<\/p>\n Data releases on Wednesday include EU economic sentiment figures, and German and Spanish inflation data.<\/p>\n