DAX Challenges Highs
The DAX was the star today as it broke through to all time highs before correcting lower and now it trades near the highs of its range looking for the right time to break through the 13000 region. For long, the index had been lagging behind the other stock indexes around the world as it had been weighed down by the news of tapering of the QE and also the German elections as well. With the elections out of the way, the index has been tearing higher and it seems only a matter of time before it breaks through the 13000 region and moves higher. Also, the UK Services PMI came in stronger than expected and this was the first piece of good data for the UK this week as the pound has been hit hard over the last one week due to the strengthening dollar and also due to the weak data.
Markets Await Data
The stock markets have been buoyant over the last few days and they are likely to be severely tested in the coming days as we have a lot of data coming out of the US in the coming days. This includes the NFP employment report. The precursor to this was the ADP employment report which came out today and it was largely on the lines of expectation. The non-manufacturing PMI data from the US came in much stronger than expected and this has helped to keep the dollar steady as the market awaits further data later in the week.