Yesterday was red for most of the stock indices of the leading economies. American indices closed with a slight decline. The Dow Jones fell by 0.16% (19941.96), S&P 500 lost 0.25% (2265.18), the NASDAQ declined by 0.23% (5471.43). European stocks showed mixed dynamics. German DAX has grown slightly by 0.03% (11468.64), British FTSE 100 is slightly down by 0.04% (7041.42).
Today is rich for the publications of macroeconomic data from different countries, which will be considered by traders during the trading sessions.
At 00:45 MSK New Zealand is to release GDP for the third quarter.
At 12:30 MSK the U.K. GDP is to release GDP for the third quarter.
At 16:30 MSK the USA is to release Core Durable Goods Orders for November.
At 16:30 MSK the USA is to release GDP for the third quarter.
At 16:30 MSK Canada is to release Core CPI for November.
At 16:30 MSK Canada is to release Core Retail Sales for October.
European indices yesterday showed off a new annual high, but closed below. The pressure on growth is going from the problems of the banking sector of the countries members of the EU. Italian banks have a total negative equity of more than $ 50 billion. And, of course, the amount of 20 billion that government is ready to allocate for the help to credit institutions is not enough. Shares of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena fell by more than 10%. Also in Spain the continuing scandal with the extra payments on mortgages that were made by customers. According to the decision of the European court Spanish banks must pay back the money. Amount of compensation may be calculated in billions of euros. Capitalization of Banco de Sabadell SA is reduced by 1.08%, CaixaBank shares falling by 1.37%. The problems of European finance sector are not limited by that. The Swiss authorities have charged fines major European banks over the manipulation of EURIBOR and LIBOR rates. Among the offenders were Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse.
The closer the Christmas holidays, the lower the activity of investors and, accordingly, the trading volumes are going down for the fourth session. Many still hope to see the value of the Dow Jones on the symbolic level of 20,000 by the end of this year in which he reaches the age of 120 years. But the oldest index of the world, in other matters, as well as other benchmarks of America, continued consolidation in a thin range near historic highs. Perhaps today's GDP data and orders of durable goods will revive the movement in sluggish pre-Christmas market.
Despite a strong opening with a gap of more than $2 per barrel, price of WTI crude oil was unable to secure at the achieved levels. By evening, all the gains were lost, and the closing was near the level of the previous session, with a slight increase of a few cents. The reason for this was data from the EIA, according to which oil reserves rose by 2,256 million barrels, while it was expected reduction in 2,515 million barrels. Also added pressure on the quotes was from news from Libya about the recovery of pipeline operations and resumption of supply.
Sincerely, Global FX chief analyst Sergey Melnikov.