Daily Digest: Monday 15th April
USA
US equity markets seemed to experience a continuation of Friday’s market direction as all three major indexes once again closed down. The Nasdaq 100 ($NDX) led declines falling 296.66 points (1.65%) to 17,706.83, followed by the S&P 500 ($SPX) which traded down 61.59 points (1.2%) to 5,061.82. Dow ($INDU) declines were shallower, with the index only falling 248.13 points (0.65%) to 37,715.11. However, Monday did mark a sixth consecutive session of declines, introducing wider scepticism over the indexes ability to maintain current price levels.
As noted on Friday, US earnings season is in full swing with Goldman Sachs ($GS) and Charles Schwab ($SCHW) both reporting on Monday. Goldman beat Q1 profit expectations, with gains driven by a resurgence in investment banking revenues, pushing share prices 2.92% up to $400.88. Meanwhile, Schwab earnings offered no surprises, as data fell in line with analyst predictions, figures which were interpreted positively by markets as share prices pushed up 1.71% to $71.23.
Europe
The FTSE 100 (FTSE) closed lower on Monday falling 30.05 points (0.38%) to 7,965.53. For the second session running prices managed to move above the 8,000 level, however, traders failed to build support as the index slipped 57.38 points from its intraday highs. Five of Friday’s top gainers joined the top fallers of Monday’s session, changes which were once again driven by commodity market volatility as crude prices turned to the downside trading toward the $85 per barrel level.
Central European indexes faired slightly better through the session, as the STOXX 600, CAC 40, and DAX 30 all closed higher. The STOXX 600 (€SXXP) rose 0.68 points (0.13%) to 505.93, with intraday highs just above the 510 level. The Dax (€GDAXI) rose 96.26 points (0.54%) to 18,026.58, suggesting traders have adopted an improved outlook on German equities following moves to the downside throughout last week. The French CAC (€FCHI) rose 34.28 points (0.43%) to 8,045.11, which once again signals a strengthening of sentiment following a poor past week of performances.
Rest of the World
Japan’s Nikkei 225 (¥N225) fell 290.75 points (0.74%) to 39,232.80, mirroring the performance of US markets through Friday. Trading opened lower at 39,056 as market participants continued to price in weaker US interest rate cut expectations and the weeks inflation data prints. Momentum turned to the upside through the session, with traders able to establish a robust support level at 39,080, though Friday’s key technical resistance of 39,700 remained untouched. The Japanese Yen has continued to depreciate across the increasingly strong US Dollar, despite expectations that central authorities would intervene either verbally or through open market operations around the 152 mark. As of 19:53 GMT, the Yen was trading against the US dollar at 154.19, as traders continue to reinforce price direction. As previously noted, there should be some windfall benefits on domestic Japanese equities, as a depreciation of the currency reduces the relative costs of domestic goods for export, alongside domestic equities for foreign investors.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (¥SSE) managed to erase Friday’s losses, rising 37.9 points (1.26%) to 3,057.38 as traders await Tuesday’s industrial production and GDP figures for China. Friday’s resistance at the 3,030 level was broken within an hour of market open, acting as a key level of support later in the day as prices moved back toward 3,050.
The Indian Nifty 50 (₹NSEI) managed a second consecutive >1% session decline, falling 246.9 points (1.1%) on Monday, the indexes largest single session of April. Trading will open on Tuesday at 22,272.50, which should see traders attempt to stabilise prices in the absence of any major domestic macroeconomic data releases.
Commodities
Tensions across the Middle East have remained the headline story in terms of geopolitics, as Iran launched a series of mostly ineffective retaliatory strikes on Israel. Iranian attacks took place on Saturday evening, and saw the brief deployment of Jordanian, US, and UK air forces tasked with protecting Israeli airspace. As noted previously this story has a high degree of influence on commodity market activity, with WTI crude prices pushed toward $90 per barrel last week. WTI crude prices fell slightly through Monday, recorded at $85.48 per barrel as of 21:00 GMT, a 0.21% session decrease. Central banks would welcome a prolonged move to the downside, as efforts to tackle inflation have been repeatedly counteracted by upward energy price movements.
Gold prices have benefited from ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, as investors seek access to key ‘safe-haven’ assets to protect against the market. As of 21:00 GMT, Gold prices were $2,403.50 per ounce, marking a 1.2384% session increase.
Sources:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/world-indices/
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/commodities
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100
https://www.binance.com/en-GB/price/bitcoin
https://www.binance.com/en-GB/price/ethereum
https://qontigo.com/index/sxxp/
Stock Market Activity Today & Latest Stock Market Trends | Nasdaq
https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/#market-cap
https://www.forexfactory.com
Definitions:
YoY - Year on Year, or, Year over Year
MoM - Month on Month, or, Month over Month
QoQ - Quarter on Quarter, or, Quarter over Quarter
ECB - European Central Bank
BOJ - Bank of Japan
Fed - Federal Reserve
BOE - Bank of England
SNB - Swiss National Bank
DOJ - Department of Justice