Market Snapshot – Markets Set to Continue Higher

Spain Continues to Cast Shadow

The European stock markets opened on a bright note as the news of the tax reform bill being passed in the US helped to support the dollar and push it higher during the course of today. This also led to the belief that more goodies are in store for the corporates in the US which would in turn make the US stock indices move higher. A combination of these helped to keep the major global stock indices around the world in a buoyant mood and so was the case with major Asian stock markets and the European stock markets as well. But the European stock markets had to deal with the issues in Spain which added to the pressure on them and this has led the indices over there lower as we write this. The problem in Catalonia continues to weigh on the Eurozone and this is likely to be the case for the short term.

Focus on Dollar and Yen

One of the important events that the market would be looking forward to for the weekend are the elections in Japan where the current PM Abe is most likely set to retain his position. This is likely to weaken the yen further as he is known to be bearish for the yen. This is already being priced into the markets and we could see it continued to be priced in once the results are out over the weekend. The dollar would also remain in focus as the market digests all the developments today and over the weekend.