European stocks finished Wednesday’s session lower across the major indices. France led the declines, followed by Italy and Germany. The UK’s FTSE 100 held up better but still ended in negative territory.
The closing levels showed:
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Germany’s DAX: 25,199.20, down 200.02 points or 0.79%
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France’s CAC 40: 7,964.52, down 71.36 points or 0.89%
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UK’s FTSE 100: 10,606.01, down 30.69 points or 0.29%
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Spain’s IBEX 35: 19,426.20, down 91.30 points or 0.47%
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Italy’s FTSE MIB: 51,371.97, down 432.98 points or 0.84%
The weakness in Europe contrasts with gains in the broader U.S. indices at the time of the snapshot. The Nasdaq Composite is leading the move higher, while the Dow is little changed:
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Dow industrial average: 51,357.15, up 2.02 points, essentially unchanged
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S&P 500: 7,717.43, up 46.58 points or 0.61%
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Nasdaq Composite: 27,086.59, up 289.05 points or 1.08%
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Russell 2000: 2,813.88, up 5.95 points or 0.21%
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Nasdaq 100: 30,609.33, up 269.99 points or 0.89%
U.S. Treasury yields are mixed, with the two-year yield moving lower while longer maturities edge higher. That combination steepens the yield curve:
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2-year yield: 4.8745%, down 1.45 basis points
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5-year yield: 5.0715%, up 0.85 basis points
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10-year yield: 5.2764%, up 2.14 basis points
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30-year yield: 5.6328%, up 3.81 basis points
The dollar is also mixed. It is higher against the euro, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar, but lower against sterling, the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar. USDJPY is unchanged in the snapshot.
EURUSD is trading at 1.1337, down 0.03%, while GBPUSD is at 1.3260, up 0.23%. USDJPY is at 157.28. USDCHF is down 0.17% at 0.8351, and USDCAD is down 0.20% at 1.4216. AUDUSD is down 0.49% at 0.6949, while NZDUSD is down 0.09% at 0.5634.
In commodities, crude oil is moving higher while precious metals are under pressure:
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WTI crude futures: $91.56, up $2.18 or 2.44%
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Spot gold: $4,161.40, down $20.59 or 0.49%
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Silver: $60.284, down $1.1711 or 1.91%
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Copper: $6.6100, up 0.10%
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Bitcoin: $84,224, up $594 or 0.71%
Bitcoin made a run to the upside – taking the price above both the 100 and 200 hour MAs a $83,844 and $84,788. The high reached $85,600 but failed and moved back below the level.
Oil’s rebound keeps the $91.45 retracement level in focus. Buyers need to stay above that level to strengthen the recovery and open the door toward the nearly converged 100- and 200-hour moving averages near $92.75. Below, the floor around $88.79–$88.80 remains the key support area.
For gold and silver, higher longer-term Treasury yields provide a headwind. Silver is seeing the larger percentage decline, even as equities and bitcoin move higher.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.