European Equities: Consumer Confidence, Corporate Earnings and the FED Are in Focus

In This Article:

Economic Calendar:

Wednesday, 29th January

GfK German Consumer Climate (Feb)

Thursday, 30th January

German Unemployment Change (Jan)

German Unemployment Rate (Jan)

Eurozone Unemployment Rate (Dec)

German CPI (MoM) (Jan) Prelim

Friday, 31st January 2020

French GDP (QoQ) (Q4) 1st Estimate

German Retail Sales (MoM) (Dec)

French Consumer Spending (MoM) (Dec)

Spanish HICP (YoY) (Jan) Prelim

Spanish CPI (YoY) (Jan) Prelim

Spanish GDP q/q (Q4) 1st Estimate

Eurozone CPI (YoY) (Jan) Prelim

Eurozone Core CPI (YoY) (Jan) Prelim

Eurozone GDP q/q (Q4) 1st Estimate

Eurozone GDP y/y (Q4) 1st Estimate

The Majors

It was a better day for the European majors on Tuesday, with the CAC40 gaining 1.07% to lead the way. The DAX30 and EuroStoxx600 saw more modest gains of 0.90% and 0.84% respectively.

While the spread of the coronavirus continued, Beijing’s containment efforts and assurances of support through liquidity were key on the day.

The Chinese government stepped in to reassure the global financial markets on Tuesday, which came as the death toll exceeded 100.

While the loss of life and the sheer number of infected are dire reading, the mortality rate remains well below that of SARS and MERS. Containment efforts have also eased concerns of a more significant spread globally.

If the spread continues and the death toll rises, however, the WHO may declare a global emergency. That would likely be the next market shock… On Monday, the WHO had raised the threat level of the virus to ‘high risk’.

The Stats

It was a quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar on Tuesday, with no material stats from the Eurozone to provide direction.

From the U.S, consumer confidence and durable goods orders provided direction later in the day.

In December, core durable goods fell by 0.1% following a 0.4% fall in November. That was the only negative, however, with durable goods orders jumping by 2.4% in December.

In January, consumer confidence also improved, with the CB Consumer Confidence Index rising from 128.2 to 131.6.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: It was a mixed day for the auto sector on Tuesday. Continental led the way, rallying by 3.86%, with Daimler and Volkswagen up by 1.87% and 0.69% respectively. BMW bucked the trend on the day, falling by 1.20%.

It was a bullish day for the banks, with Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank rallying by 2.99% and by 1.52% respectively.

Deutsche Lufthansa found much-needed support, rising by 1.69%. Elsewhere, whilst Wirecard jumped by 4.0%, Infineon Technologies (-0.97%) continued to struggle, however.

From the CAC, it was a bullish day for the banks. BNP Paribas rose by 1.13%, while Credit Agricole and Soc Gen gaining by 1.10% and 0.15% respectively.