Capitol Hill Assault Fails To Shake FTSE’s Resolve, European Gains Continue

The assault on Capitol Hill failed to shake the market’s resolve to start 2021 with their best foot forward. However, Europe did struggle to match its recent growth after the bell.

Though Biden’s electoral victory is still yet to be officiated due to Wednesday’s attempted fascist insurrection, investors have had confirmed a pair of Democrat victories in Georgia’s run-off races, with Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff becoming the first Black and first Jewish senators in the state’s history.

Now that the incoming administration has control of the upper and lower chambers of Congress, it is on the Biden government to show they can get things done – and from a market perspective that means a chunky stimulus package to compensate for the compromised bill agreed before Christmas.

Hopes that Biden and co. will deliver drove the markets higher on Wednesday, and just about allowed Europe to keep its green sheen at the start of Thursday’s trading.

As has been the case all week, the FTSE was out in front, even if that only translated to a 0.4% increase. It appears the continued gains of BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa), as Brent Crude climbs another 1%, have been sufficiently countered by a retreat from some of the UK banking stocks, giving back a slice of yesterday’s roided-up growth.

The DAX and CAC were right there alongside the FTSE, both rising 0.4%. With a bit more of a push Thursday could be a memorable one for the German bourse – now lies only 25 or so points away from striking 14,000 for the first time in its history.

Talking of historic landmarks, if all goes well the Dow Jones could see itself close above 31,000 later today. It briefly stuck its nose past that landmark on Wednesday, and at points already the futures have suggested it could open the right side of that level. However currently it is set to fall just short, with a prospective 0.5% increase leaving it a few points shy of that milestone.

The big question for the markets going forwards is whether they can sustain their New Year optimism in the face of increasingly tough covid-19 headlines, both from a medical and economic standpoint. In that regard, Friday may give investors some difficulty, if the nonfarm jobs report forecasts are anything to go by.

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