GOLD
Gold prices rose during early Thursday trading, approaching the crucial psychological level of $2,000. Tensions are rising in the Middle East, with Israeli military forces entering Gaza in what appears to be the initial stages of a ground invasion. Such a scenario will be bad news for those who hoped for a de-escalation in the conflict. Instead, the stakes are getting higher, and it is becoming more likely that third parties, such as Hezbollah and Iran, will get involved. Against this background, despite rising treasury yields and a strengthening US dollar, gold prices are rising as worried investors seek reassurance in the ultimate haven.
Ricardo Evangelista – Senior Analyst, ActivTrades
Source: ActivTrades
EUROPEAN SHARES
European shares traded lower on Thursday, with market sentiment weighed down by poor corporate results while bracing for the ECB’s monetary decision.
Investors’ risk appetite has been seriously dented this week after poor earnings reports were published by some of the most important large European groups, primarily listed in the region’s leaders, France and Germany.
Both the DAX-40 and CAC-40 index are among the worst performers so far, led lower by a batch of sectors with Consumer Cyclicals and Financial shares in the lead.
Market volatility isn’t likely to decrease today as investors wait for another significant batch of corporate results, with 8 out of the 40 companies listed on the CAC-40 to publish their results today.
In addition, traders will also cautiously follow the ECB’s decision on rates. Even if no significant change is expected regarding borrowing costs, investors will thoroughly assess ECB President Lagarde’s speech, trying to get more clues on where monetary policy will go before year-end through the semantics used by the central banker.
The STOXX-50 index trades below 4,050.0pts, with the 4,013.0pts/3,993.0pts zone as immediate support before 3,973.0pts and 3,944.0pts.
Pierre Veyret – Technical analyst, ActivTrades
Source: ActivTrades
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