European Markets Slide
Oil prices dip
Trump Sends Dollar Tumbling
- European markets slide on Trump’s health-care setback:
European markets opened lower today as investor sentiment was subdued after U.S. President Donald Trump failed to deliver a much promised health-care reform. All sectors and major bourses trod in negative territory.
On the data front, traders will be looking closely at the euro area loan growth and the German Ifo business climate index which are both due to be released this morning. According to investing.com a higher than expected Ifo reading should be taken as positive signal for the EUR, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as a negative signal for the EUR. Current consensus is that the German Ifo business climate index will remain unchanged at 111.
- Oil prices dip as US drilling offsets OPEC cuts extension talks
Oil prices tumbled on Monday morning according to CNBC, as rising U.S. drilling activity overshadowed talks of an extension in OPEC led cuts for mid-2017. Indicatively, Benchmark Brent crude futures dipped 0.3 percent, from their last close at 9:15 GMT while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.4 percent as of 9:15 GMT.
- Trump’s healthcare defeat sends dollar to 2-month lows
According to CNBC, the U.S. dollar slid to new lows against a basket of currencies on Monday amid rising concern over President Donald Trump’s failure to push through a health care reform bill. The president’s inability to deliver on a major election campaign promise has struck a major blow on Republican party’s confidence and raised further doubts on whether Trump will be able to deliver on other major promises such as tax reforms and mega-spending packages.
Last Week’s Markets in Headlines:
Stocks and bonds were higher last week, with noticeable gains coming immediately after the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised short-term interest rates by 0.25%. Here’s what happened in last week’s Financial Markets according to NASDAQ:
Mon: President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Administration Posts
Tue: Energy sector gets dragged down by fall in oil prices
Wed: President Trump’s lack of progress in passing the healthcare bill disappoints
Thu: A broad-based gain in technology sector boosts global markets
Fri: Oil prices tumble due to record increase in the U.S. crude inventories (source: Nasdaq)
The Week Ahead…
Important economic releases & events this week:
