Summary:

  • Most of indices in Europe hold steady as investors prepare for crucial NFP report from the US, Spanish stocks come back in the red
  • DAX (DE30 on xStation5) sticks to its record highs 
  • Daimler (DAI.DE) announces September vehicle sales figures

European stocks were little changed on Friday morning despite positive sentiment on Wall Street. Although tensions between Catalonia and government in Madrid have eased somewhat, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the future one of the biggest economies in the euro area. Bloomberg reports that concerns over the economy and banking sector from Regional President Carles Puigdemont have caused separatist to re-think declaring independence immediately. Moreover, the Spanish constitutional court suspends Catalan parliamentary session on Monday, which may reignite nervousness. Cautious sentiment on the old continent is also justified by upcoming NFP report from the US. We presented a broader NFP preview here.

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 DE30 remains at its record highs although some fatigue may be spotted. Source: xStation5

DE30 holds close to its record highs. The German index flirts with 13.000 pts and strong bullish momentum underscored by rising moving averages (at the chart are displayed 50-, 75- and 150-period EMAs) argues for a continuation of the upward move. On account of the fact that the index is at historical peaks, the next resistance should be marked by round, psychological levels, e.g. 13.100 pts. 

On the other hand, we may spot some signs of fatigue this morning. Investors could cash out their profits, hence a pull-back towards 12.922 pts (one of the highs from June and present local lows) cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, higher volatility should occur when the US NFP report will be published (1:30 pm BST).

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 There are no larger moves on German DAX in the morning. Source: Bloomberg

It was a positive session for stock markets across Asia, following new record on Wall Street. Australian S&P/ASX200 (AUS200) was the best performing market adding more than 1%. The rest also did well. The Japanese Nikkei (JAP225) inched up 0.33%. It’s also worth mentioning that investors in Japan may be more eager to react to political issues. We presented a broader analyse here. Hang Seng (HKComp) moved 0.27% higher.

In Europe, the sentiment is mixed a bit. German DAX (DE30) is rising by about 0.10% as well as the UK FTSE100 (UK100). Euro Stoxx50 (EU50) and French CAC40 (FRA40) are slightly in the red as they losing less than 0.2%. We see a deeper pull-back in Spain and Italy. Spanish IBEX (SPA35) once again is losing 0.8% on concerns over Catalonia. The FTSEMIB is also moving down by 0.8% as the rescued Monte dei Paschi announced it will launch a voluntary public offer to swap shares owned by former retail bondholders into senior debt.

Company news

Daimler (DAI.DE) published today its sales figures for September. Mercedes-Benz car sales rose 4.5% yoy to over 220k, whilst Smart sales dropped 8.8% yoy to shy of 13k. Hence, Daimler is one of the best performers in German DAX this morning.