As London and European traders head home, the major European stock indices have closed higher across the board. Spain’s Ibex led the gains with a rise of 1.33%, followed by the UK’s FTSE 100, up nearly 1%.
The closing levels showed:
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German DAX: +190.41 points, or +0.76%, at 25,277.69.
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France’s CAC 40: +29.55 points, or +0.38%, at 7,832.89.
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UK FTSE 100: +104.24 points, or +0.99%, at 10,656.28.
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Spain’s Ibex 35: +252.69 points, or +1.33%, at 19,285.79.
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Italy’s FTSE MIB: +288.69 points, or +0.58%, at 50,034.99.
Stocks move higher despite European 10 year yields moving higher
Benchmark 10-year yields also moved higher, with France leading the increase:
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Germany: 3.476%, up 1.1 basis points.
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France: 4.896%, up 5.0 basis points.
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UK: 5.444%, up 0.5 basis points.
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Spain: 4.102%, up 0.1 basis points.
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Italy: 4.607%, up 3.0 basis points.
France’s 10-year yield premium over Germany stands at 142 basis points. With French yields rising faster today, that spread widened by 3.9 basis points.
U.S. stocks are mixed as technology lags
The US bond market is closed in observance of Columbus Day, but US stocks are open. In the U.S., the Dow is higher, but the broader indices are struggling. The Nasdaq 100 is leading the declines:
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Dow Industrial Average: +209.02 points, or +0.40%, at 51,869.20.
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S&P 500: −1.04 points, or −0.01%, at 7,810.50.
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Nasdaq Composite: −73.02 points, or −0.27%, at 27,293.15.
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Russell 2000: −5.25 points, or −0.19%, at 2,801.73.
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Nasdaq 100: −170.45 points, or −0.55%, at 30,712.70.
The dollar holds the stronger hand
The bonds are not a catalyst but the USD is higher against each of the major currencies in the end of European day snapshot. Its largest gains are against the Swiss franc and New Zealand dollar.
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EURUSD: 1.1155, down 0.41%.
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GBPUSD: 1.3202, down 0.22%.
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USDJPY: 158.68, up 0.23%.
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USDCHF: 0.8345, up 0.53%.
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USDCAD: 1.4283, up 0.20%.
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AUDUSD: 0.6955, down 0.39%.
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NZDUSD: 0.5583, down 0.46%.
Oil rises while gold, silver and bitcoin retreat
Oil is moving higher, with the December WTI contract up $1.79, or 1.95%, at $93.64.
Meanwhile, the stronger dollar provides a headwind for dollar-priced precious metals:
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Spot gold: down $31.29, or 0.75%, at $4,163.36.
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Silver: down $0.43, or 0.70%, at $60.35.
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Copper: up 0.87% at $6.7505.
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Bitcoin: down $895, or 1.07%, at $82,784.
European equity buyers had a solid start to the week. In the U.S., the gains are more selective, with the Dow advancing while technology shares lag.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.