In This Article:
Economic Calendar:
Thursday, 3rd September
Spanish Services PMI (Aug)
Italian Services PMI (Aug)
French Services PMI (Aug) Final
German Services PMI (Aug) Final
Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Aug) Final
Eurozone Services PMI (Aug) Final
Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) (Jul)
Friday, 4th September
German Factory Orders (MoM) (Jul)
German IHS Markit Construction PMI (Aug)
The Majors
It was a particularly bullish day for the European majors on Wednesday, following a mixed day on Tuesday.
The DAX30 rallied by 2.07% to lead the way, with the CAC40 and EuroStoxx600 gaining 1.90% and 1.66% respectively.
Economic data from the Eurozone and the U.S took a backseat on the day. A 0.48% slide in the EUR back to sub-$1.19 levels provided support on the day, as the U.S majors struck fresh record highs.
ECB Central banker Phillip Lane had sent the EUR back-peddling from $1.20 levels late on Tuesday. Lane stated that the EUR/USD rate does matter, suggesting that the ECB would need to consider EUR strength.
The Stats
It was a relatively quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar. Key stats included July retail sales figures from Germany and unemployment numbers from Spain.
In July retail sales fell by 0.9% in Germany, following a revised 1.9% decline in June. Economists had forecast a 0.50% increase in sales.
According to Destatis,
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Year-on-year, retail sales rose by 4.2% following an upwardly revised 6.7% jump.
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Retail sales of food, beverages, and tobacco were up 4.2%.
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In the non-food retail sector, sales were up by 4.4% compared with the same month in 2019.
From Spain, unemployment increased by 29.8k, following an 89.8k slide from the previous month. The numbers had a muted impact on the European majors, however. Economists had forecast a 10.1k rise.
From the U.S
ADP non-farm employment change rose by a disappointing 428k in August, following on from a 212k rise in July. Economists had forecast a 950k rise.
The Market Movers
For the DAX: It was a particularly bullish day for the auto sector on Wednesday. Continental and Daimler rallied by 3.57% and by 2.33% to lead the way. BMW and Volkswagen saw more modest gains of 1.90% and 1.27% respectively.
It was a bearish day for the banks, however. Deutsche Bank fell by 0.23%, while Commerzbank slid by 2.43%.
From the CAC, it was another bearish day for the banks. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole fell by 0.57% and by 0.92% respectively, with Soc Gen sliding by 2.34%.
It was a mixed day for the French auto sector. Peugeot rose by 1.00%, while Renault ended the day down by 0.44%.
Air France-KLM saw red for a 3rd consecutive day, falling by 2.18%, while Airbus SE found further support, rallying by 3.61%