European Equities: Economic Data and Trade in Focus

In This Article:

Economic Calendar:

Tuesday, 8th October

  • German Industrial Production (MoM) (Aug)

Thursday, 10th October

  • German Trade Balance (Aug)

Friday, 11th October

  • German CPI (MoM) (Sep) Final

  • French CPI (MoM) (Sep) Final

  • Spanish CPI (YoY) (Sep) Final

  • Spanish HICP (YoY) (Sep) Final

The Majors

It was a bullish start to the week for the European majors. The EuroStoxx600 led the way with a 0.71% gain, with the DAX30 and CAC40 rising by 0.70% and by 0.61% respectively.

The majors found further support from Friday’s U.S labor market figures, which had reported a fall in the U.S unemployment rate to 3.5%.

Economic data out of Germany continued to disappoint, with sentiment towards Brexit and U.S – China trade talks also limiting any upside.

The Stats

It was a quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar on Monday. German factory order figures for August delivered few surprises in the early part of the day.

According to Destatis,

  • Month-on-month, factory orders fell by 0.6%, following a 2.1% slide from the previous month. Economists had forecast a decline of 0.3%.

  • Domestic orders decreased by 2.6%, while foreign orders increased by 0.9% in August, month-on-month.

  • New orders from the euro area were up by 1.5%, with new orders from other countries rising by 0.4% compared with July-19.

  • Manufacturers of intermediate goods saw new orders increase by 1.1%, while manufacturers of capital goods saw new orders fall by 1.6%.

  • For consumer goods, new orders slipped by 0.9%.

  • Year-on-year, factory orders fell by 6.7% compared with a 5% decline in July.

There were no material stats from the U.S to influence later in the session.

The Market Movers

For the DAX: It was yet another bearish day for the auto sector, with Continental sliding by 2.65%. Daimler (-0.89%), BMW (-0.21%), and Volkswagen (-0.01%) also saw red.

Bank stocks also struggled on the day, with Deutsche Bank sliding by  1.18%. Commerzbank fell by a more modest 0.5%

From the CAC, it was a bullish day for the banks. BNP Paribas led the way, rising by 0.78%. Credit Agricole and Soc Gen saw more modest gains of 0.71% and 0.51% respectively. For the autos, Renault rose by 0.28%, with Peugeot ending the day up by 0.32%.

A divergence in sentiment between Germany and France’s respective economies continued to deliver mixed results for both sectors.

On the VIX Index

The VIX Index rose by 4.81% to end the day at 17.9.

While the European majors found support from the hope that the U.S economy will avoid a recession, Trump chatter weighed on the U.S majors later in the day.

The Day Ahead

It’s a quiet day ahead on the Eurozone economic calendar. August German industrial production figures are due out ahead of the European open.