European Equities: Economic Data and Brexit in Focus

The Majors

It was a bearish end to the month and the start of the week for the European majors on Monday. Coming off the back of a bullish week, the DAX30 and EuroStoxx600 fell by 0.33% and by 0.98% respectively. The CAC40 slid by 1.42%, however, to lead the way down.

On the day, a lack of progress towards Brexit and some profit-taking following an impressive November rebound left the majors in the red.

Inflation figures from the Eurozone and stats from the U.S didn’t help, however, with the stats skewed to the negative.

The Stats

It was a relatively busy day on the Eurozone economic calendar. Prelim November inflation figures for Spain, Italy, and Germany were in focus on the day.

In Spain, consumer prices fell by 0.8% in November, compared with November 2019. In October, consumer prices had also fallen by 0.8%. The harmonized index of consumer prices fell by 0.9%, following a 0.9% decline in October. Economists had forecast a 0.8% decline, year-on-year.

Things were not much better from Italy, with consumer prices falling by 0.1% in November, month-on-month. In October, consumer prices had risen by 0.2%.

From Germany, deflationary pressures saw a marked pickup. Consumer prices slid by 0.8% in November, reversing a 0.1% rise from October. Economists had forecast a 0.7% decline.

From the U.S

Chicago PMI numbers for November and October pending home sales figures also disappointed.

The Chicago PMI fell from 61.1 to 58.2 in November, with pending home sales falling by 1.1% in October. In September, pending home sales had fallen by 2.0%.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: It was a mixed day for the auto sector on Monday. Daimler rose by 0.32% to buck the trend on the day. Continental and Volkswagen slid by 2.35% and by 3.27% respectively, however, with BMW seeing a more modest 0.04% loss on the day.

It was also a bearish day for the banks. Deutsche Bank fell by 1.44%, with Commerzbank sliding by 3.38%.

From the CAC, it was a bearish day for the banks. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole fell by 1.96% and by 1.93% respectively. Soc Gen slid by 3.70% to lead the way down, however.

It was also a bearish day for the French auto sector. Peugeot fell by 1.13, with Renault sliding by 2.23%.

Air France-KLM also hit reverse, tumbling by 7.34%, with Airbus SE ending the day with a 2.52% loss.

On the VIX Index

It was a 5^th consecutive day in the red for the VIX on Monday. Following a 1.93% decline on Friday, the VIX fell by 1.30% to end the day at 20.57.

On Monday, the Dow and S&P500 fell by 0.91% and by 0.46% respectively, with the NASDAQ slipping by 0.06%.

The downside for the VIX came in spite of the losses across the U.S benchmarks, with COVID-19 vaccine hopes weighing.