Despite an empty economic calendar the European indices got off to a strong start this morning, lifted by Emmanuel Macron’s notable victory in France’s parliamentary elections.
Spreadex Analyst, Connor Campbell commented “Understandably the CAC led the morning’s gains, rising 1.2% to re-cross 5300, while the DAX jumped by nearly 120 points.”
“The FTSE piggy-backed onto the Eurozone’s gains, lifting by almost 1% to hit a one week peak. The UK index was also encouraged by the substantial gains made by its oil and mining stocks, as well as a rebound from some of the companies struck by last week’s retails sale plunge/DFS profit warning double-whammy.”
Today marks the start of official Brexit negotiations with British and EU diplomats beginning the difficult task of unravelling almost five decades of integration.
Accendo Markets Analyst, Mike van Dulken noted “Nothing ground-breaking is expected for some time however, with detailed talks still to come. Today is considered a trust-building exercise, each side officially tabling demands to kick off an already delayed process working towards a concrete deadline [March 2019]. Any sound bites have potential to keep markets [FTSE, DAX, GBP, EUR] on their toes.”
US equity markets were mixed on Friday to finish the week, with contrasting fortunes between indices. Mike van Dulken added “The Dow Jones closed at another fresh record high as Energy stocks offset significant losses for Wal-Mart after Amazon’s $13.7bn offer for Whole Foods.”
“The S&P500 followed suit, closing just above flat as Energy names offset losses for Consumer Stables, while the Tech-focused Nasdaq continued to underperform peers.”
