Proactive Investors - Euro stocks approaching all-time highs.
The bloc-wide Stoxx Europe 600 Index stayed the course this morning as it nears the edge of a two-year high.
The index is currently trading at 478.65; a handful of points off an all-time high secured in January 2022.
European stocks are feeding off bullish news emerging from the US, where investors are placing bets on lower interest rates in the first half of 2024.
Hitting a new record may be contingent on a recovery of luxury stocks like LVMH (EPA:LVMH) and Hermes; unfortunately, these same stocks are out of favor amid a downturn in discretionary purchases.
Back in London, the FTSE 100 blue-chip index has flipped into the red following a positive start to the day. It was trading at 7,718 as of 9.55am.
Bitcoin trades sideways
Bitcoin has failed to emerge from its sideways trade as the year comes to a close, with cryptocurrency investors taking their wins following a surprisingly successful year for digital assets.
BTC/USD has traded between $41,000 and $43,000 for the majority of December, with the pair jumping 200 basis points yesterday before paring half of those gains this morning.
As of 9.30am, bitcoin was swapping for $42,970.
Despite the latter year cool-off, year-to-date gains for the benchmark cryptocurrency are an impressive 160%, marking a return to form following a dire 2022.
Bitcoin bulls were hoping for a final Santa rally pump above $45,000, but this seems unlikely with volumes retreating.
The sum off all outstanding cryptocurrency market capitalisations is $1.69 trillion, with bitcoin’s share of the market slightly above 51%.
FTSE 100 off morning highs; Shell signs major deal with QatarEnergy
UK blue chips reversed early morning gains after the first hour of trades, with the FTSE 100 index flipping essentially flat at 7,724 as of 9.10am.
The pound remained in a strong position against the US dollar, despite coming off intraday highs which saw the GBP/USD pair exceeding 1.282 for the first time since August 10.
At the time of writing, the pair was swapping for a flat 1.28.
Company news remains thin on the ground in the second-largest session of the year, though Shell (LON:RDSa) made headlines by signing an 18-million-barrel-a-year deal with state-owned oil group QatarEnergy.
Gold prices were going strong at $2,075.
BAE Systems (LON:BAES), Pershing Square (NYSE:SQ) and Scottish Mortgage led the individual stock risers.