Daily Digest: Friday 19th April
USA
US indexes sent mixed signals through Friday, the Dow ($INDU) was the only major index to close up rising 211.02 points (0.56%) to 37,986.40. The Nasdaq 100 ($NDX) took its largest single session decline in over a month, falling 356.66 points (2.05%) to 17,037.65. The S&P 500 ($SPX) also broke a key psychologically significant level the downside, closing below 5,000 for the first time since February. The index fell 43.89 (0.88%) to 4,967.23.
Europe
The FTSE 100 (FTSE) managed to rise for a third consecutive session, in the face of ongoing geopolitical concerns. The UK’s benchmark rose 18.8 points (0.24%) to 7,895.85, 52 index constituents saw session declines while the remaining 48 closed up. European index performance as a whole was muted, the STOXX 600 (€SXXP) fell 0.41 points (0.082%), while the German DAX (€GDAXI) fell 100.04 points (0.56%) to 17,737.36, and the French CAC 40 (€FCHI) fell 0.85 (0.011%) to 8,022.41.
Rest of the World
The Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 (¥N225) failed to uphold yesterday’s momentum, falling 1,011.35 points (2.66%) to 37,068.35. This move came upon news of a possible escalation of the Israel Iran situation, with IDF forces launching retaliatory strikes on Iran, the scale of which unknown at the time. As noted yesterday war time often causes a shift in investor sentiment from risk assets to safe havens such as Gold and the US Dollar, which offer a level of shelter from excessive volatility. The story following the Japanese Yen remained largely unchanged, with the currency appreciating throug Friday morning but being pushed back to 154.538 against the US Dollar as of 16:40 GMT.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (¥SSE) managed to closed Friday slightly lower, having broken support around the 3,069 level. The index closed 8.96 points (0.29%) down at 3,065.26.
The Indian Nifty 50 (₹NSEI) pushed 151.15 points higher (0.69%) to 22,147, the move erased most of yesterday’s losses while seemingly pushing against prevailing market momentum.
Commodities
WTI momentum was stronger through Friday, upon the news mentioned above that Israel had launched retaliatory strikes on Iran. Crude prices rose 0.56%, their largest single session increase in over a week, recorded at $83.21 per barrel as of 21:00 GMT. Once again Gold prices were largely driven by the same catalysts, rising 0.30% to $2,402.60 per ounce.
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