Stocks in Europe are lower today as the sell-off in the US last night spilled over to this part of the world. The terror attack in Barcelona gave traders an additional reason to get out of equities. The combination of political uncertainty in the US and security concerns in Europe are weighing on investor sentiment. The CAC 40 and the DAX were already in decline since May and June respectively, and in light of the recent events we are seeing selling pressure increase.
The terror atrocity in Spain has sparked concerns that tourist hotpots in Europe are unsafe, and tourism related stocks are bearing the brunt of the decline. International Consolidated Airlines and easyJet (LON:EZJ) have fallen the most of the FTSE 100 today.
Ashtead (LON:AHT) shares are offside today after President Trump disbanded the advisory council on infrastructure. The British based plant and machinery hire company derives the majority of its revenue in the US, and now we are less likely to see major spending on infrastructure anytime soon, and dealers are dumping the stock.
German producer price index (PPI) ticked up in July by 0.2%, and traders are expecting it to see an increase of 0.1%, but it had little impact on the EUR/USD. The euro has managed to pull back some of the losses in incurred versus the US dollar in the past couple of days. The single currency will find it tough to attract buyers seeing as the European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, won’t be talking about tapering the bond buying scheme at the Jackson Hole Symposium later this month.
We are anticipating the Dow Jones to open 20 points lower at 21,730, and we are calling the S&P 500 down 3 at 2427.
At 3pm the US will announce the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, and the consensus is for 94, and that compares with the previous reading of 93.1.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) and Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) will announce their quarterly numbers today.
DISCLAIMER: CMC Markets is an execution only provider. The material (whether or not it states any opinions) is for general information purposes only, and does not take into account your personal circumstances or objectives. Nothing in this material is (or should be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by CMC Markets or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. "