European Equities: Economic Data from the Eurozone and the U.S in Focus

The Majors

It was a mixed start to the week for the European majors on Monday.

The CAC40 and the EuroStoxx600 rose by 0.24% and by 0.18% respectively, while the DAX30 slipped by 0.13%.

Better than expected economic data from the Eurozone and hopes of an accommodated FED delivered support on Monday.

While FOMC members have signaled a willingness to begin discussion on tapering, NFP numbers have yet to press for a hasty response.

The market focus early in the week will be on the FED, with the FOMC meeting kicking off later today.

The Stats

In April, industrial production increased by 0.8%, coming in ahead of a forecasted and March 0.4% rise.

According to Eurostat,

• Production of consumer goods rose by 3.4%, energy by 3.2%, capital goods by 1.4%, and intermediate goods by 0.8%.
• Bucking the trend, however, was a 0.3% decline in the production of non-durable consumer goods.
• Belgium (+7.4%), Malta (+5.6%), and Estonia (+4.4%) recorded the largest monthly increases.
• Lithuania registered the largest monthly decrease of 2.4% in the month.
• Compared with April 2020, industrial production was up by 39.3%.
• The production of durable consumer goods was up by 117.3%, year-on-year.
• There were also marked increases in the production of capital goods (+65.4%) and intermediate goods (+38.7%).
• Non-durable consumer goods (+15.4%) and energy (+14.4%) production were up modestly by comparison.

From the U.S

It was a particularly quiet day on the economic calendar, with no material stats to provide direction late in the session.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: It was a bearish day for the auto sector on Monday. Volkswagen and Daimler fell by 0.94% and by 0.97% respectively, with Continental ending the day down by 0.72%. BMW saw a more modest 0.03% loss on the day.

It was a bearish day for the banks, however. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended the day down by 1.44% and 1.38% respectively.

From the CAC, it was a mixed day for the banks. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole rose by 0.23% and by 0.27% respectively. Soc Gen ended the day flat.

It was also a mixed day for the French auto sector. Stellantis NV ended the day flat, while Renault fell by 0.18%.

Air France-KLM slid by 1.40%, while Airbus SE eked out a 0.04% gain on the day.

On the VIX Index

It was back into the green for the VIX on Monday, marking 4^th gain in 8 sessions.

Reversing a 2.80% fall from Friday, the VIX rose by 4.73% to end the day at 16.39.

The Dow fell by 0.25%, while the NASDAQ and the S&P500 ended the day up by 0.74% and by 0.18% respectively.