An empty economic calendar, and a lack of update on the macro issues that dominated last week, meant the European indices could take a breather from the recent politically-driven trading.
Spreadex Analyst, Connor Campbell noted – “As it has done for the last few sessions, the FTSE led the charge after the bell, jumping 0.3% to 0.4% to lurk just the wrong side of 7500. Solid growth in its commodity stocks – themselves aided by Brent Crude’s push towards $54 per barrel – provided the main thrust of the UK index’s rise, complimented by an early fall from the pound.” Campbell added – “Over in the Eurozone things were far quieter, the DAX and CAC barely moving as the day got underway. This tentativeness may be explained by the importance of Monday’s Eurogroup meeting, with Jeroen Dijsselbloem and his finance minister mates trying to reach a new deal on Greece.
Over in the US, indices continued to recover at the end of last week from the politically motivated mid-week sell-off, with all three major bourses closing higher.
Accendo Markets Analyst, Mike van Dulken commented – “The Dow Jones finished over 100 points higher, as Caterpillar and Boeing provided the greatest positive impact ahead of confirmation of the US-Saudi trade deal, while the S&P 500 also saw Industrial names outperforming as all 11 sectors on the index closed positive. The Tech-focused Nasdaq underperformed peers having closed 0.5% higher.” He added – “a Wall St relief rally on Friday suggested investors putting last week’s political chaos behind them.”
The Dollar will remain in the spotlight in the coming days as the release of fresh figures from the US will re-focus traders’ attention on the data and away from the political arena.
ADS Securities analyst, Stephen Davie suggested – “Investors will look towards the Manufacturing and Services PMI reports on Tuesday for potential reasons to buy back the Dollar. The US currency has been sold aggressively across the board against its peers on the back of disappointing data and political turmoil so a set of positive figures could act as a catalyst for a relief rally.”
