Comment: European Markets On The Soft Side As Investors Take Cash Off The Table
February 25, 2014 6:54 am
Wall Street’s advance overnight thanks to Fed chair Yellen reiterating her pledge to support her predecessor’s stimulus policies. Despite some poor US economic data [poor weather still being blamed] the S&P500 index rose to 1847, about a point away from its record close registered last month. The US market was also propped up by the pick-up in M&A activity in recent days; Facebook/WhatsApp for example.
Over in Europe Monday, the FTSE100 rose to its highest level since 1999 whilst other European indices added healthy gains too. Back to Asian markets overnight, the rally on Wall Street fed through to regional markets in Asia with the Japanese market rebounding but the China market somewhat mixed amid lingering worries about a property bubble in the country.
On the immediate picture in Europe, share markets have kicked off the session on the back foot as investors take some cash off the table following previous session gains. Across other assets, gold is losing ground, down 3 bucks whilst oil prices are under pressure and core government bonds are seeing a bit of flow. In the FX space, EURUSD looking decent at 1.37 as well as GBPUSD, though USDJPY is trading on the weak side.
In Italy, the country’s youngest ever PM Renzi won a vote of confidence in the Senate, paving the way for much needed economic reforms. Meanwhile over in Ukraine, lawmakers today will vote on a national unity government led by a PM they trust so the country can receive economic aid to prevent a default. Ukrainian stocks and bonds rallied on Monday after some order was restored to the country but at the same time, uncertainty looms so long as Ukraine does not receive financial aid.
On the macro front, German GDP for the Q4 was confirmed at 0.4%, as expected with annual pace of growth running at 1.4% – no surprise to the market and welcome on the whole. French business confidence remained stable, continuing to point to a recovery and relieving those on in the market who expected a deterioration in
Wall Street’s advance overnight thanks to Fed chair Yellen reiterating her pledge to support her predecessor’s stimulus policies. Despite some poor US economic data [poor weather still being blamed] the S&P500 index rose to 1847, about a point away from its record close registered last month. The US market was also propped up by the pick-up in M&A activity in recent days; Facebook/WhatsApp for example.
Over in Europe Monday, the FTSE100 rose to its highest level since 1999 whilst other European indices added healthy gains too. Back to Asian markets overnight, the rally on Wall Street fed through to regional markets in Asia with the Japanese market rebounding but the China market somewhat mixed amid lingering worries about a property bubble in the country.
On the immediate picture in Europe, share markets have kicked off the session on the back foot as investors take some cash off the table following previous session gains. Across other assets, gold is losing ground, down 3 bucks whilst oil prices are under pressure and core government bonds are seeing a bit of flow. In the FX space, EURUSD looking decent at 1.37 as well as GBPUSD, though USDJPY is trading on the weak side.
In Italy, the country’s youngest ever PM Renzi won a vote of confidence in the Senate, paving the way for much needed economic reforms. Meanwhile over in Ukraine, lawmakers today will vote on a national unity government led by a PM they trust so the country can receive economic aid to prevent a default. Ukrainian stocks and bonds rallied on Monday after some order was restored to the country but at the same time, uncertainty looms so long as Ukraine does not receive financial aid.
On the macro front, German GDP for the Q4 was confirmed at 0.4%, as expected with annual pace of growth running at 1.4% – no surprise to the market and welcome on the whole. French business confidence remained stable, continuing to point to a recovery and relieving those on in the market who expected a deterioration in
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