European Markets Are Stable in the Morning Session on October 20

Following a four-week rising streak, the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 Index started this week on a mixed note. After pulling back on Thursday, the FTSE 100 Index started higher on Friday and traded with stability in the morning session.

The market sentiment is mixed in European markets this week amid Brexit talks and high optimism about third-quarter corporate earnings. On Thursday, the market moved lower due to disappointing retail sales data. According to the data released by the Office for National Statistics on October 19, the United Kingdom’s retail sales fell 0.8% in September, which is a bigger fall than the market’s forecast of a 0.1% decline. On Friday, the FTSE 100 Index was supported by the pound’s pullback. The strength in banks and miners also supported the market.

The market is looking forward to the release of CFTC GBP speculative net positions at 3:30 PM EST today. At 6:45 AM EST on October 20, the FTSE 100 Index was trading at 7,540.25—a gain of 0.23%. The iShares MSCI United Kingdom (EWU) fell 0.44% on October 19.

After a strong pullback on Thursday amid the dented sentiment in European markets, Germany’s DAX Index opened higher on Friday. Amid Germany’s supporting economic data, the DAX Index is stable in the morning session on Friday. According to data released by Destatis, Germany’s producer price index recorded 0.3% in September, which is higher than the market’s forecast of 0.1%. At 6:45 AM EST on October 20, the DAX Index was trading at 13,031.75—a rise of 0.32%. On October 19, the iShares MSCI Germany ETF (EWG) fell ~0.24%.

France’s CAC 40 Index remained range bound in the first half of October due to political uncertainty in the Catalonia region. Amid the improved market sentiment, the CAC 40 Index broke through the top of the range on October 18. After a brief pullback on October 19, the CAC 40 Index regained strength on Friday. At 6:50 AM EST, the index was trading at 5,380.50—a gain of 0.24%. The iShares MSCI France (EWQ) rose 0.16% on October 19.

In the next part of this series, we’ll see how the US Dollar Index and US Treasury yields performed early on October 20.