European Equities: Omicron and Sentiment towards FED Monetary Policy to Overshadow Today’s Stats

The Majors

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

The DAX30 slipped by 0.01%, with the CAC40 and EuroStoxx600 ending the day down by 0.70% and by 0.38% respectively. It had been a bullish start to the session, with the majors finding strong support before hitting reverse.

Economic data from Germany failed to spook the majors going into the open. This was in spite of German wholesale prices rising at the fast pace on record.

From the U.S, there were no major stats to distract the markets, however, as the FED prepares for its final FOMC meet of the year.

Uncertainty over the upcoming FED policy decision weighed, as did growing concerns over the Omicron strain. Reports that the new strain evades vaccine protection coupled with the first Omicron related death in the UK were market negatives.

The Stats

It was a quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar, with economic data limited to German wholesale inflation.

In November, selling prices in wholesale trade rose by 16.6% compared with November 2020.

According to Destatis,

• There has not been a higher annual rate of change since 1962, when wholesale price indices calculations began.
• In October 2021 and September 2021, the annual rates had been 15.2% and 13.2% respectively.
• The high rates of change for wholesale prices in annual comparison came from increased prices for raw materials and intermediate products.
• Prices for mineral oil products were up 62.4% year-on-year, which was the largest contributor.
• Month-on-month, the index rose by 1.3%.

From the U.S

There were also no material stats to provide the majors with direction later in the session.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: It was a mixed day for the auto sector on Monday. Continental and Daimler fell by 0.04% and by 0.17% respectively. Volkswagen and BMW found support, however, rising by 1.02% and by 0.36% respectively.

It was a bearish day for the banks. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended the day down by 1.19% and by 1.23% respectively.

From the CAC, it was a bearish day for the banks. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole fell by 1.25% and by 0.93% respectively, with Soc Gen declining by 1.51%.

The French auto sector also had a bearish session. Stellantis NV and Renault ended the day down by 1.34% and by 1.36% respectively.

Air France-KLM slid by 3.35%, with Airbus SE ending the day with a 2.37% loss.

On the VIX Index

It was back into the green for the  VIX on Monday, marking just the 2^nd gain in 6 sessions.

Partially reversing a 13.39% tumble on Friday, the VIX rose by 8.67% to end the day at 20.31.

The NASDAQ slid by 1.39%, with the Dow and the S&P500 falling by 0.89% and by 0.91% respectively.