City counts the cost of Brexit but eyes turn to new global opportunities February 16, 2021 As temperatures hit record lows in February, parts of London’s financial markets are feeling the cold as consequences of Brexit bed in. The much reported toppling of London as the continent’s top share-trading hub in January is a symbolic moment more than a significant economic shift, but it plays into a wider discussion about the [...]
Before the Bell: Rising recovery optimism keeps markets buoyant February 16, 2021 With US markets closed for President’s Day yesterday, they will have some significant catching up to do after yesterday’s stellar European session, when they return from their long weekend later today. Having seen the Nikkei225 push above 30,000 for the first time since 1990, a move that continued in Asia this morning, European markets [...]
Before the Bell: Europe set for a higher open after bitcoin tests $50k February 15, 2021 Bitcoin continued to make new record highs over the weekend, edging close to the $50k level after last week’s surprise revelation that Tesla had taken the decision to plough $1.5bn into the cryptocurrency with a view to making it a means of payment. Despite some widespread scepticism about the wisdom of such a move it would [...]
Before the Bell: Firm focus on UK GDP numbers this morning February 12, 2021 It was another uneventful day in the markets yesterday as fresh news stories were thin on the ground. The same old headlines about vaccines being distributed and optimism with respect to President Biden getting his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan approved in the next few weeks continued to be the main focus of traders’ attention. Both [...]
London experiences massive drop in Euro swaps trading post-Brexit February 11, 2021 Trading in euro-denominated swaps has dropped by nearly 30 per cent in London since the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December, with trade primarily shifting to New York, Amsterdam and Paris. According to new data from financial research company IHS Markit, published earlier today, euro swaps trading in the City of London [...]
Before the Bell: Quiet start expected for Europe, dealers eye US jobs data February 11, 2021 Stock markets in Europe posted modest losses yesterday as a drop off in confidence towards the end of the session more than wiped out the gains that were registered earlier. For most of the day, equity benchmarks were in positive territory, upbeat sentiment circulated as it was believed the Biden administration will sign off on [...]
Financial markets continue to hang on two Vs: vaccine and virus February 9, 2021 Global equities bounced strongly last week, gaining nearly 5 per cent and more than reversing their losses from the previous week. Stock markets ended the week at new highs and opened again higher yesterday. The market correction ended up lasting no more than a week. “So too did the surge in GameStock which has fallen back [...]
Before the Bell: Bitcoin goes through the roof as positive investor sentiment persists February 9, 2021 Bitcoin was driven to fresh record highs overnight – it traded above $47,000 – on the news that Tesla bought $1.5bn worth of the cryptocurrency. In the same announcement, the electric vehicle manufacturer revealed that it intends to accept the digital currency as a method of payment too. “One of the criticisms of Bitcoin is [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot February 5, 2021 With such a strong rally this week, and a marked retracement of recent losses, the key near term question is whether this is a ‘dead cat bounce’ – OR – simply a resumption of the medium term uptrend. From a price action perspective, the jury is still out. In particular, despite a strong rally in [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily market snapshot February 4, 2021 With a strong move higher in US equity markets this week, signs of near term ‘greediness’ have been building. Usually, when levels of greed and complacency become elevated, markets then become vulnerable to the downside. Conversely, when fear levels are high, it pays to turn bullish. In this brief clip, we show how to ‘lean [...]