In European Equity Markets stocks closed in the red Monday as equity investors got their first chance to react to President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech, seen as taking a protectionist tone. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4 percent to finish at 361.01. On major European indexes, Germany’s DAX 30 gave up 0.7 percent to 11,545.75 and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.6 percent to 4,821.41. The U.K’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7 percent to 7,151.18 as the pound also strengthened against the buck. Shares of Paddy Power Betfair PLC lid 4.4 percent after the bookie said it would miss the top end of its forecast range, partly due to a £5 million ($6.24 million) hit after the unexpected Trump win in the presidential election.
In Currency Markets the dollar fell to a seven-week low against a currency basket on Monday, weighed by concerns about the early days of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration that have so far been marred by protests, a protectionist inauguration speech and angry comments on Twitter. In mid-morning trading, the dollar index fell 0.3 percent to 100.43 led by a 0.9 percent fall versus the yen to 113.64 yen. Sterling climbed as high as $1.2477, its strongest level against the dollar since Dec. 19, and pushed its way toward a two-week high against the euro at 86.20 pence per euro. The euro was up 0.4 percent at $1.0736, on course for its seventh daily rise in the last nine.
In Commodities Markets oil prices fell about 1 percent on Monday as signs of a strong recovery in U.S. drilling overshadowed news that OPEC and non-OPEC producers were on track to meet output reduction goals. Brent crude was down 23 cents at $55.26 a barrel. U.S. crude futures traded at $52.76 a barrel, down 0.8 percent, or 46 cents. Ministers representing members of the OPEC and non-OPEC producers said at a meeting in Vienna on Sunday that of the almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) they had agreed to remove from the market starting on Jan. 1, 1.5 million bpd had already been cut. Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,215.83 an ounce, while silver rose 0.4 percent to $17.14.
In US Equity Markets stocks lost ground on Monday as investors digested President Donald Trump’s protectionist statements and sought safe-haven assets such as gold and U.S. Treasury bonds. The S&P 500 was down 0.43 percent, at 2,261.38 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.41 percent, at 5,532.52. Qualcomm lost 13.4 percent after Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the chip supplier on Friday. Halliburton fell 3.4 percent after the world’s No. 2 oilfield services provider reported a bigger loss in the latest quarter. Shares of auto parts retailers Autozone, Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly fell between 2.5 percent and 4.8 percent after the NY Post said Amazon.com may start selling auto parts. The online retailer’s stock was up 0.1 percent.
In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as investor jitters over President Donald Trump’s tough stance on trade spurred safe-haven demand for bonds ahead of $88 billion in government debt supply this week. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was down 2 basis points at 2.450 percent, while 30-year yield fell 1 basis point to 3.032 percent.
European Equity Upgrades/Downgrades
DEUTSHCE TELEKOM (DTE GY) UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT FROM NEUTRAL AT JPMORGAN
TARKETT (TKTT FP) DOWNGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT HSBC