OIL
Oil prices fell during early Monday trading following the release of weaker-than-expected Chinese GDP figures. Last week closed with oil prices up by almost 2%, a rise driven mainly by the markets’ optimism after US inflation numbers came up lower than expected. The closing down of several Libyan oil fields, which lowered the country’s daily output by several hundred thousand barrels per day, also contributed to last week’s gains. However, today’s publication of Chinese GDP data dented the markets’ view on future oil demand. China is the world’s top oil importer, and its GDP figures missed the consensus by a full percentage point, posing a big question on the pace of the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy and hitting oil prices as expectations for future demand were downgraded.
Ricardo Evangelista – Senior Analyst, ActivTrades
Source: ActivTrader
EUROPEAN SHARES
Shares fluctuated for the first trading session of the week in Europe as investors awaited more market drivers.
The extremely bullish sentiment registered at the end of last week hasn’t continued on Monday. Market sentiment took a hit following mixed data releases from China, as investors witnessed more robust industrial production than initially estimated, while GDP growth fell below expectations for Q2.
Meanwhile, investors will await further macro developments today with the G-20 ministers and central bankers meeting, another speech from ECB president Christine Lagarde, while the US manufacturing data looms in the afternoon.
In addition, this week’s focus will likely remain on corporate earnings, with big names such as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Tesla reporting their Q2 results over the next few days. Corporate results will likely stay the biggest market driver in the short term and should shape market sentiment for the next few weeks.
Technically speaking, the STOXX-50 index keeps trading inside its 200-point wide range while volatility remains high. The market has recently failed to register a new all-time high over 4,424.0pts, and now pulls back lower with the 4,355.0pts in sight.
Pierre Veyret– Technical analyst, ActivTrades
Source: ActivTrader
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