European Markets Head Higher
Facebook’s Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates
FOMC Keeps Rates on Hold
Market Recap – This week in a nutshell:
This week started somewhat sluggish as E.U. markets remained closed for Labour Day. On Tuesday the USD was lifted by Treasury yields which surged after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin commented on the possibility of ultra long-term bond issuance. Later within the week the EU raised the price on its divorce from the U.K. to €100B from a previous 50B.*
Thu, May 4: In Today’s Markets…
1. European Markets Open Higher as Macron Holds Lead on Le Pen
European markets started the day higher on Thursday after being buoyed by a televised political debate featuring the two leading candidates for the French presidency. The two candidates shared their visions of France’s future, the euro and terrorism. The debate saw centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron strengthen his lead on anti-EU opponent Marine Le Pen.
On today’s agenda, we can expect a deluge of corporate earnings, with major companies reporting, including, Societe Generale, Air France and Siemens. Note that you can find and trade all of the aforementioned companies’ shares on BDSwiss’ MT4 platform. Higher than expected corporate earnings reports are likely to push these companies’ shares higher!**
2. Facebook Inc Posts Market-Beating Q1 Earnings
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) posted market-beating first quarter earnings results, late on Wednesday as its monthly active users also surged to 2 billion users.The social media behemoth reported Q1 earnings of $1.04 per share (EPS), beating expectations by $0.18. Revenues also rose 49.2% from last year to $8.03 billion, also beating forecasts.**
3. FOMC Keeps Rate on Hold
As expected the FOMC left the Fed Funds rate at 1% on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve called the Q1 GDP growth “transitory.” It is also important to note that yesterday’s FOMC vote was unanimous and gave U.S. markets a significant boost. It should also be noted that the Federal Reserve delivered a hawkish assessment of economic growth at the culmination of the central bank’s two-day policy meeting, hinting to further rate hikes before the end of the year.
*Source: Bloomberg
**Source: Seeking Alpha
