European markets ticked higher on Thursday alongside US futures as hopes of recovery continue to drive market sentiment higher. Joe Biden’s team managed to reassure investors after announcing a further $2 trillion relief plan to the Congress, which had an immediate bullish impact on the three main US benchmarks. Furthermore, it may still be the beginning of a new “risk-on” trading phase as investors look forward to hearing more details from Biden’s economic package, which is due later today. Even if most markets are drifting on a very short-term basis, it seems hopes brought by this fiscal boost and the global rollout of vaccines are offsetting valuation fears.
Meanwhile in Europe, carmakers, banks, and tech shares are the best performers and most benchmarks remain positive. On the flipside, Carrefour is one of the worst performers after the French government opposed Couche-Tard’s bid for the French group. The CAC-40 Index is still trading well above 5,600pts today even if both the bullish pressure and market directionality are slowing.
