Equity markets in Europe are offside this morning as profit taking from last week’s strong finish continues. Traders are focused on the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting and the UK general election which both take place on Thursday.
Ryanair (LON:RYA) shares are marginally lower this morning despite the airline revealing an 11% increase in passengers in May. Last week the share price hit an all-time high so a bit of profit taking isn’t out of the ordinary.
Shares in EasyJet (LON:EZJ) are up over 1% today after the low-cost air carrier posted a 9.5% rise in passenger numbers for May. EasyJet’s shares have performed well throughout 2017, and with updates like this you can see why.
The recent rally in the price of gold has boosted the share price of Randgold Resources (LON:RRS). Gold is trading at its highest level since late April, and the soft jobs report from the US last week has left traders wondering how many more interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve will do this year. The headline nonfarm payroll number was well below estimates, and the revision lower to the previous month’s number didn’t impress investors either. While wage growth is standing still dealers are becoming more dovish in their outlook for the remainder of the year.
The EUR/USD lost ground in early trading but managed to pull back some of its losses after the eurozone Sentix investor confidence survey came in at 28.4 for this month, and that exceeded the consensus of 27.6. Eurozone retail sales grew by 0.1% in April, and the growth rate slowed from 0.3% in March.
We are expecting the Dow Jones to open 18 points lower at 21,166, and the S&P 500 to open at 2433, down 3 points.
In terms of economic data, we are expecting the US to report the job openings and labour turnover summary (JOLTS) at 3pm, and the expectation is for 5.65 million, and that compares with 5.74 million in March. This report will be of particular importance given the disappointing non-farm payroll figure last week.
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.