Stock markets opened lower in Europe, as risk appetite wanes on the last trading day of the month. Investors are choosing to temper their exposure to risky assets following a 13% rally on equities in November and ahead of another busy week of macro news. Energy shares are leading declines this morning after OPEC failed to decide on oil supply ahead of today’s full virtual meeting. Elsewhere, banking, and small caps are also among the worst performers with investors taking some profit following this month’s rally and prior to this week’s busy agenda with the US NFP looming on Friday.
In the meantime, tech shares have shown more resilience on Cyber Monday. Today’s pull-back is more likely to be “technical” than really threatening to market as the global economic recovery remains on track and confirmed vaccines keep on lifting long-term uncertainty. With that in mind, there is a high chance that investors will rely on macro news to adjust their trading strategy until the end of the year. More market volatility is expected on oil markets today with a possible agreement from the OPEC meeting on oil output, which should also have a significant impact on oil-related shares including the travel & leisure sector.
