G7 fireworks ignored
The European markets are largely ignoring the G7 tension over the weekend. The major indices are all closing higher with the Italian FTSE MIB leading the way. The new economic minister spoke positively about Italy staying in the euro, and that sent the Italian shares soaring and the yields tumbling lower.
A summary of the markets shows:
- German Dax up 0.66%
- France's CAC up 0.55%
- UKs FTSE up 0.88%
- Spain's IBEX up 1.6%
- Italy's FTSE MIB up 3.42%
- Portugal's PSI20 up 0.57%
In the 10 year debt sector, yields are mixed and flows exited the safe havens (Germany, France and UK) and moved to the "risk on" countries (Spain, Italy and Portugal):
- Germany 0.494%, up 4.5 bps
- France 0.907%, up 8.9 bps
- UK 1.41%, up 2.2 bps
- Spain 1.453%, down -1.7 bps
- Italy 2.83%, down -30.1 bps
- Portugal 1.987%, down -6.8 bps
In the forex market as London/Europe look to exit shows that the EUR remains the strongest with the largest gain vs the CAD. The CAD is the weakest of the majors, but the declines have narrowed a bit vs earlier in the day. The USD has given up some of the gains seen earlier in the day (see early snapshot here).
In other markets, the snapshot shows:
- Spot gold up $2.03 at $1301.29. That is closer to the day highs at $1302.45
- WTI crude oil is up $0.49 now. It was down from most of the morning, but recently spiked back above the 100 and 200 hour MAs (blue and green lines at $65.42 and $66.00 respectively. Stay above the 200 hour MA keeps the bulls in control.
- Bitcoin is trading down about -$10 at $6709 on Coinbase. The high reached $6839. The low extended to $6666.66 (really - double devil?) On Sunday, the digital currency fell close to $1000 (from high to low). That represented a 13% fall. Ouch.
