A busy economic calendar will look to distract the markets from COVID-19 news updates, with U.S nonfarm payrolls key following Powell's shift on inflation.
French Services PMI (Nov) Final
German Services PMI (Nov) Final
Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Nov) Final
Eurozone Services PMI (Nov) Final
Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) (Oct)
It was a bearish session for the European majors on Thursday.
The DAX30 and CAC40 fell by 1.35% and by 1.25% respectively, with the EuroStoxx600 ending the day down by 1.15%.
Market reaction to the news of the Omicron strain reaching the U.S weighed heavily on the European majors going into the open.
Economic data from the Eurozone and the U.S failed to deliver support, with Eurozone wholesale inflationary pressures accelerating in October. Adding to the downside was news from EU member states and the U.S of measures to contain the spread of the new strain. Germany and the U.S were amongst countries to reintroduce measures this week.
It was a relatively quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar. Stats were limited to unemployment and wholesale inflation figures for the Eurozone.
In October, the Eurozone’s unemployment rate fell from 7.4% to 7.3%, which was in line with forecasts. The unemployment rate had stood at 8.4% in Oct-2020.
According to Eurostat,
Wholesale inflation figures for the Eurozone drew greater interest today, however.
In October, the Eurozone’s annual wholesale rate of inflation accelerated from 16.1% to 21.9%. Month-on-month, industrial producer prices rose by 5.4%. Producer prices had risen by 2.8% in September.
According to Destatis,
Compared with Sep-2021:
By member state, Belgium (+11.2%) recorded the highest increase, followed by Italy (+9.4%).
Compared with Oct-2020:
Jobless claims were in focus later in the European session.
In the week ending 26th November, initial jobless claims rose from a downwardly revised 194k to 222k.
While initial jobless claims rose back above the 200k mark, continuous jobless claims fell from 2,063k to 1,956k. The fall to sub-2,000 was the first since March 2020, when continuous jobless claims had stood at 1,803k on 20th March.
Continuous jobless claims had peaked at 25,073k back in May 2020.
For the DAX: It was a bearish day for the auto sector on Thursday. Continental led the way down, sliding by 2.18%. Daimler and Volkswagen fell by 0.61% and by 0.99% respectively, with BMW ending the day down by 0.28%.
It was a mixed day for the banks, however. Deutsche Bank rose by 0.55%, while Commerzbank fell by 0.39%.
From the CAC, it was also a mixed day for the banks. Soc Gen gained 0.23%, while Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas saw losses of 0.13% and 0.25% respectively.
The French auto sector had a mixed session. Stellantis NV rose by 0.37%, while Renault ended the day down by 1.01%.
Air France-KLM and Airbus SE fell by 1.16% and by 0.80% respectively.
It was a back into the red for the VIX on Thursday, as the U.S equity markets bounced back from Wednesday’s sell-off.
Partially reversing a 14.45% gain from Wednesday, the VIX fell by 10.19% to end the day at 27.95.
The NASDAQ rose by 0.83%, with the Dow and the S&P500 seeing gains of 1.82% and 1.42% respectively.
It’s a busy day ahead on the Eurozone’s economic calendar. Member state and Eurozone service and composite PMIs for November will be in focus along with Eurozone retail sales figures.
Barring marked revisions from prelims for France and Germany, expect the Eurozone’s composite and retail sales figures to have the greatest impact.
From the U.S, nonfarm payrolls and ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI numbers for November will likely be the key drivers.
Away from the economic calendar, news updates on COVID-19 and the latest variant will also continue to influence, however. Downside risks remain, with the markets yet to know whether Omicron is vaccine resistant…
In the futures markets, at the time of writing, the Dow Mini was up by 99 points, while the DAX was down by 245 points.
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.