It was a mixed bag on Monday morning, with no definitive direction for trading as the markets float between news items.
Without any major vaccine updates – though the UK is preparing to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech preparation in the next few days, before the FDA in the US even meet to discuss it on December 10th – Brexit breakthroughs or particularly positive covid-19 headlines, it was hard for traders to glom onto anything concrete after the bell.
That led to an inconsistent board, with the FTSE adding 0.1%, but remaining short of 6,400, while the DAX dropped 0.2% and the CAC fell half a percent.
The US open could create a more decisive mood on the markets – the Dow Jones is heading for an 180 point decline, one that would force the index back under 29,750, after it failed to close above 30,000 at the end of last week.
This as the States just saw its 27th consecutive day of at least 100,000 new daily cases, while November’s monthly total crossed 4 million, more than double the additions made in October.
Lacking any other distractions, investors are forced to consider the latest covid-19 developments, perhaps explaining the at-best muted tone of trading at the start of the week.
It’s also been an exhausting, exhilarating month for investors – they may simply want to tie up a few loose ends before heading into the year’s closing gambit.
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