European markets drifted lower at the opening of the last trading session of the week, following the global trend sparked on US shares yesterday. The worst weekly slide in three months on global markets came despite reassuring earnings and macro data this week, following concerns over volatile retail trading in the US.
The strong bearish wind hit US markets first, following the decision by some brokerage firms to restrict trading on highly volatile shares like GameStop Corp and AMC Entertainment – that have been strongly sustained by an army of retail traders against Wall Street giants – in an attempt to bring more stabilization to prices. Generally, global market sentiment is becoming increasingly mixed at the end of the first trading month of the year as investors remain torn between hopes of a stimulus-fuelled recovery and delays in vaccine rollout, especially in Europe where some countries are even threatening big pharma (AstraZeneca) with possible legal actions. Today’s session is likely to become less volatile after trading in highly speculated US shares has been limited while no significant macro news is expected.
