European stock markets opened significantly higher, following the trend established overnight in Asia, as investors start the week on a renewed tone of optimism. Traders who took a bit of profit at the end of last week on grounds of growing uncertainty sparked by deteriorating US-Sino relationships were relieved to see President Trump replying with a much softer tone than anticipated to Beijing’s behaviour towards Hong Kong. Now investors look forward to fresh data this week with another €500b from the ECB to be added to its rescue plan. However, the current situation in the US may puncture market sentiment, with protests in many cities adding to an already febrile situation as the economy starts to reopen against a backdrop of escalating unemployment with this week’s US jobs report expected to show it at its highest since the Great Depression. In addition, fears of a second virus wave linger in most investors ‘minds, especially after jumps in new cases were spotted over the weekend in both France and Spain. Virus and macro data are then likely to be treated as equally important this week and any number falling below expectations could lead to sharp downside moves on riskier assets.
The best performance comes from Madrid with the IBEX-35 challenging resistance at 7,210pts with today’s gains led by the mining, travel, and leisure sectors. Technically speaking, the price is attempting to clear the upper band of their consolidation phase for the third time (rectangle, see chart), supported by the 7,070pts zone. The trend remains bullish with both moving averages crossing and reversing to the upside. The first available support remains above 7,070 while a clearing of 7,210pts could open the way to climbs towards 7,455pts and 7,960pts.
