European Equities: Futures Point to the Red, with COVID-19 Weighing

Bob Mason
·3 min read

Economic Calendar:

Thursday, 22nd October

GfK German Consumer Climate (Nov)

Eurozone Consumer Confidence Flash

Friday, 23rd October

French Manufacturing PMI (Oct) Prelim

French Services PMI (Oct) Prelim

German Manufacturing PMI (Oct) Prelim

German Services PMI (Oct) Prelim

Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Oct) Prelim

Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Oct) Prelim

Eurozone Services PMI (Oct) Prelim

The Majors

It was a bearish day for the European majors on Wednesday. The CAC40 fell by 1.53%, with the DAX30 and EuroStoxx600 seeing losses of 1.41% and 1.29% respectively.

A 3rd consecutive day in the red came as market jitters over a continued rise in new COVID-19 cases across Europe weighed.

The continued spike in new cases and reintroduction of containment measures continues to raise uncertainty over the economic recovery.

There was also a failure to deliver a COVID-19 stimulus package on Capitol Hill that pressured the European majors. Talks are set to resume later today, however, with both sides looking to deliver a package ahead of the 3rd November Presidential Election.

While talks are set to resume, Senate Republicans could scupper the chances of any deal ahead of the election.

The Stats

It was a particularly quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar. There were no material stats from the Eurozone to provide the majors with direction on the day.

The lack of stats left, Brexit, COVID-19, and updates from Capitol Hill on U.S stimulus negotiations in focus.

From the U.S

It was also a particularly quiet day on the economic calendar, with no material stats from the U.S to provide direction late in the session.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: It was a bearish day for the auto sector on Wednesday. Daimler and Volkswagen slid by 1.48% and by 1.30% respectively to lead the way down. BMW and Continental saw more modest losses of 0.25% and 0.44% respectively.

It was also a bearish day for the banks. Deutsche Bank fell by 2.12%, with Commerzbank declining by 1.19%

From the CAC, it was a bearish day for the banks. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole fell by 1.45% and by 1.51% respectively. Soc Gen led the way down, however, with a 1.71% loss.

It was a mixed day for the French auto sector. Peugeot slipped by 0.62%, while Renault ended the day up by 0.81%.

Air France-KLM reversed Tuesday’s 1.55% gain, with a 4.25% loss, with Airbus SE sliding by 4.30%.

On the VIX Index

A run of 7 consecutive days in the green came to an end for the VIX on Wednesday. Reversing a 0.58% gain from Tuesday, the VIX fell by 2.39% to end the day at 28.65.

The downside in the VIX came in spite of the U.S majors ending the day in the red.

The NASDAQ and S&P500 fell by 0.28% and by 0.22% respectively, with the Dow ending the day down by 0.35%.

The Day Ahead

It’s a relatively quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar. Key stats include French, German, and Eurozone consumer confidence figures.

We would consider Germany and the Eurozone’s consumer confidence numbers to have a greater impact.

With the spike in new COVID-19 cases across the EU, the stats will influence the EUR.

Any slide in confidence would raise further uncertainty over consumer spending and question the outlook towards the economy.

From the U.S, the weekly initial jobless claims and U.S politics will also influence later in the day.

The Futures

In the futures markets, at the time of writing, the Dow was down by 153 points, with the DAX down by 32 points.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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