It's a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar, with key stats limited to Eurozone retail sales figures. With stats on the lighter side, COVID-19 news will also influence.
Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) (Feb)
German ZEW Economic Sentiment (Apr)
German ZEW Current Conditions (Apr)
Eurozone ZEW Economic Sentiment (Apr)
Spanish CPI (YoY) (Mar) Final
Spanish HICP (YoY) (Mar) Final
Eurozone Industrial Production (MoM) (Feb)
German CPI (MoM) (Mar) Final
French CPI (MoM) (Mar) Final
French HICP (MoM) (Mar) Final
Italian CPI (MoM) (Mar) Final
Eurozone Core CPI (YoY) (Mar) Final
Eurozone CPI (YoY) (Mar) Final
Eurozone CPI (MoM) (Mar) Final
Eurozone Trade Balance (Feb)
It was a relatively bullish end to the week for the European majors on Friday.
The CAC40 and the EuroStoxx600 rose by 0.06% and by 0.08% respectively, with the DAX30 gaining by 0.21%.
At the end of the week, the upside for the DAX30 came in spite of some disappointing stats from Germany on the day.
More positive news on the EU vaccine front continued to drive market optimism of a rapid economic recovery.
It was a busier day on the economic calendar on Friday.
The German economy was back in focus ahead of the European open this morning, with stats from France and Italy also on the docket.
Industrial production fell by 1.6% in February, month-on-month, following a revised 2% decline in January. Economists had forecast a 1.5% rise.
According to Destatis,
In February, Germany’s trade surplus narrowed from €22.2bn to €19.1bn, versus a forecasted narrowing to €20.0bn.
According to Destatis,
Trade with EU countries:
Trade with non-EU countries:
Trade with the UK
Other notables:
From France, the stats were also skewed to the negative, with industrial production sliding by 4.7% in February. Economists had forecast a 0.5% rise following a 3.2% increase in January.
Italian retail sales figures were upbeat, however. In February, retail sales jumped by 6.6%, reversing a 2.7% slide from January.
It was another quiet day on the economic calendar, with economic data limited to wholesale inflation figures for March.
The markets were expecting a pickup in wholesale inflationary pressures and there were no disappointments.
The core producer price index rose by 0.7% in March, following a 0.2% increase in February. Month-on-month, the producer price index jumped by 1.0%, following a more modest 0.5% rise in February.
For the DAX: It was a mixed day for the auto sector on Friday. Daimler rose by 1.12% to buck the trend on the day. Continental slid by 1.47%, however, with BMW and Volkswagen falling by 0.28% and by 0.86% respectively.
It was a bearish day for the banks, however. Deutsche Bank declined by 0.44%, with Commerzbank ending the day down by 1.21%.
From the CAC, it was a mixed day for the banks. BNP Paribas and Soc Gen ended the day with losses of 1.04% and 1.60% respectively. Credit Agricole found support, however, eking out a 0.05% gain.
It was a bearish day for the French auto sector, however. Stellantis NV fell by 0.86%, with Renault declining by 1.59%.
Air France-KLM found support, rising by 1.66%, with Airbus SE ending the day up by 0.30%.
It was a 3rd consecutive day in the red for the VIX on Friday.
Following on from a 1.22% decline on Thursday, the VIX fell by 1.53% to end the day at 16.69.
The NASDAQ rose by 0.51%, with the Dow and the S&P500 gaining 0.89% and 0.77% respectively.
It’s a quiet day ahead on the European economic calendar. February retail sales figures for the Eurozone are due out later today.
With little else to consider from the economic calendar, we can expect some market sensitivity to the numbers.
From the U.S, there are no material stats to provide direction, leaving the majors in the hands of COVID-19 news later in the day.
In the futures markets, at the time of writing, the Dow Mini was down by 46 points, while the DAX was up by 20.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.
With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.