The FTSE has opened lower this morning, down 26 points in early trading having given up some ground from Friday’s positive post-Election close.
Spreadex Analyst, Connor Campbell suggested “Falling around half a percent the UK index found itself back below the 7500 mark, if only just, as the Institute of Directors warned that its members were feeling pretty damn pessimistic about the state of the UK economy in the next 12 months.”
“The Eurozone saw a similar start to the day, the DAX and CAC slipping 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.” added Campbell. “It’s interesting that the CAC didn’t open with more of a spring in its step considering Emmanuel Macron’s EN March party is set to secure a landslide victory in the French parliamentary elections, something that should help him implement the economic reforms promised in his Le Pen-trouncing presidential campaign.”
US equity markets closed sharply lower on Friday, with the exception of the Dow Jones, as Technology stocks ended their recent period of outperformance.
Accendo Markets Analyst, Mike van Dulken noted “Despite trading a fresh intraday high after opening, the Nasdaq closed 1.8% lower as major Tech Stocks Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all fell by over 3% as investors engaged in widespread profit-taking.”
“The S&P500’s Tech sector also suffered, falling by 2.5% to send the index marginally lower, however the Dow avoided the losses of other bourses, advancing 0.4% on Financial sector strength.”
It’s a busy week ahead for currency traders with central bank meetings and important reports due for release.
ADS Securities Analyst, Konstantinos Anthis commented “The US Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday stands out as the most important event as it will shape the outlook for the dollar depending on whether the Fed will raise rates and what kind of guidance they provide.”
“Fed futures indicate there will be a rate hike on Wednesday and the markets seem to be expecting it but Fed’s intended tightening schedule for the rest of the year is of equal importance.”
