European Equities: Consumer Sentiment and Geopolitics in Focus

The Majors

The rising storm of political unrest weighed on the global financial markets. While economic uncertainty has become the norm, there’s a new element for the markets to consider. If consumers are disgruntled, expect consumption to slump.

On the day, the DAX fell by 0.12%, while the CAC and EuroStoxx600 slid by 0.33% and by 0.31% respectively.

Things were not much better in the U.S as the geopolitical risk net widened. HK and Argentina joined an extended list of concerns for the markets.

A collapse in the Argentinian Peso and HK’s latest troubles sank the markets on the day. HK may not be the largest economy in the world, but it is a financial center. China’s approach may be a blueprint of what lies ahead.

The Stats

The Eurozone economic calendar was on the quiet side on Monday. There were no material stats out of the Eurozone to provide the European majors with direction at the start of the week.

With the U.S economic calendar also on the quieter side, the focus remained on the trade war. There were a couple of curveballs, namely HK and Argentina, which weighed at the start of the week.

The Market Movers

From the DAX, Deutsche Bank faced the wrath of the global financial markets, sliding by 7.64% on the day. ThyssenKrupp came in a distant second, with a 3.54% loss.

Unsurprisingly, the auto sector also slumped. Continental fell by 3.43%. The rest of the pack weren’t far behind. Daimler and BMW fell by 1.03% and 0.86% respectively, while VW slipped by just 0.51%.

From the CAC, the banking sector also saw deep red on the day. Soc Gen led the way down again, falling by 2.18%. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole fell by 1.34% and by 1.82% respectively. Renault also joined German peers in the red with a 1.53% decline.

The Day Ahead

It’s a relatively busy day ahead on the Eurozone economic calendar. Key stats on the day include Germany and the Eurozone’s economic sentiment figures for August.

Of less influence on the day will be finalized July inflation figures due out of Germany and Spain.

Through the U.S session, July inflation figures will also provide direction late in the European session. Any softening in inflationary pressures would be considered positive for the equity markets.

We would expect, however, for geopolitics to rule the roost…

In the futures markets, at the time of writing, the DAX was down by 13 points, while the Dow Mini was up by just 38 points.