Despite the Dow Jones eking out a bit of growth, the European indices remained mildly fretful on Monday.
Shouldering a near 1% drop from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) – likely because global smartphone production is expected to drop 10% this quarter due to the coronavirus – the Dow managed to add 70-odd points after the bell. Though still a few hundred points off of last week’s 29500-grazing record peak, the increase did keep the US index in that conversation.
The DAX – which like the Dow was flirting with all-time highs last week almost in spite of the current geopolitical uncertainty – dropped under 13500 as it fell 35 points, with the CAC desperately clinging into 6000 despite a 0.3% decline.
The FTSE was marginally the worst performer, falling 0.4% due to the weight of its commodity and banking stocks, alongside sterling’s rebound. Against the dollar sterling was up 0.4%, lifting off of last Friday’s 2-month-plus lows, while against the euro, hit by a sharp decline in investor confidence in the Eurozone, it rose 0.6%.
The pound may find its rebound tested on Tuesday morning. The first glimpse at the UK’s Q4 growth is expected to come in at 0.0% against Q3’s 0.4% – however there is some reason to believe the economy actually contracted by 0.1% in the fourth quarter. There’s also the monthly GDP reading, forecast to bounce from -0.3% to 0.2%, alongside estimated recoveries for the manufacturing and industrial production figures.
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