Stock markets in Europe lacked a clear direction on Tuesday following a similar trend on Asian benchmarks. The risk appetite is still alive this week, but investors remain torn between reassuring data on the virus front and poor earnings results. Lower infection rates almost everywhere seem to suggest the market bottom may now be behind us. However, despite the looming reopening of economies, traders prefer to contain their enthusiasm and wait for a cure, vaccine or proof the virus has been fully contained in order to avoid a second wave of cases, which would be dramatic for people as well as for economies.
In Europe, most investors and bankers will wait for the EU Commission’s details around new capital-relief measures to help the banking industry sustain businesses in the struggle against the pandemic. Unsurprisingly then, financial shares are among the top movers in Europe today with companies like Allianz, BNP, Société Générale and BBVA helping the Stoxx-600 edge slightly higher.
Photo by Rio Lecatompessy.
The Italian FTSE-MIB Index is still the eurozone’s best performer and is now trading above 17,550pts. Technically speaking, the price will have to clear 17,835pts in order to unlock a potential cross of the bearish Ichimoku cloud and rise up towards 19,640pts. The Chiko-span has cleared both the price barrier and the Tenkan-Sen, which are the first steps of a trend reversal, but the cloud thickness may prevent the market from going higher, at least temporarily.
