DE30: European stocks drop during morning trade

• European indices slip after bullish open

• DE30 drops back below 200-hour moving average

• Airbus (AIR.DE) expected to announce restructuring plans after session close

Stocks in Europe launched today's trading with minor bullish gaps. However, optimism did not last long and most major European stock market indices trade under the flatline at press time. DAX drops 0.2%. UK FTSE 100 and Italian FTSE MIB are top laggards as both drop around 0.9%.

Source: xStation5

DE30 made a break above the 200-hour moving average (purple line) overnight but did not manage to stay there for long. A steep downward move started after the launch of European cash session. DAX is trying to halt a downward move at the support zone ranging below 12,200 pts and 50-hour moving average, that runs in the same area (green line). However, traders should keep in mind that a double top was painted in the 12,300 pts area (orange circles) therefore some further downside could be on the cards. Nevertheless, in case support at 12,200 pts holds, attention will shift towards the 200-hour moving average and 12,300 pts area as the nearest resistance. Powell is expected to testify before the House Committee (5:30 pm BST) but as the text was already released, the event may not have too much of an impact on stock markets.

DAX members at 10:07 am BST. Source: Bloomberg

Lufthansa (LHA.DE) announced a new feature for passengers, that may incentivize them to use its services over competitors. The German carrier will now offer passengers arriving in Munich or Frankfurt an option to choose whether they want to take Covid-19 test or go into a regular 14-day quarantine. Tests will also be available for passengers boarding for a flight abroad.

UK financial Watchdog announced that it has lifted restrictions on the UK arm of Wirecard (WDI.DE). The division is now allowed to restart payments services and customers are allowed to use their cards as normal. Restrictions were introduced in the aftermath of the accounting scandal in Germany and caused inconvenience for customers as they were unable to access their funds.

Reuters reported that Airbus (AIR.DE) is set to announce restructuring plans today after market close. News agency cited people within unions as a source of the information.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (TSLA.DE), urged employees to boost production and deliveries as "breaking even is looking super tight" in a recently sent memo to employees. The US carmaker is expected to report production and delivery figures ahead of the weekend.

Shape of restructuring plans could be a potential big market move for Airbus (AIR.DE). The stock is trading in between a support at €61.60 and a resistance at €65.90) and, should restructuring be deep and significant, we could see an attempt to break out of range at the beginning of a session tomorrow. Source: xStation5