Daily summary: Bullish rally continues

 

Major  European indexes closed higher for the fourth day in a row as  €750 billion EU stimulus plan announced on Wednesday continued to lift market sentiment. Gains have been supported by the easing of the related-coronavirus restrictions and hopes for a vaccine. DAX added 1.2%, FTSE 100 advanced 1.2% and CAC 40 gained 1.9%.

Wall Street  indices are also trading higher. US continuing claims fell for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started, an encouraging sign the American job market bottomed out. This completely overshadowed the fact that the upwardly revised  GDP reading showed 5% contraction for the first quarter. It also seems that investors once again ignored growing tensions between the Beijing and Washington after China’s National People's Congress officially approved the new national security law for Hong Kong. The Trump administration is preparing a variety of measures, including targeted sanctions, new tariffs and further restrictions on Chinese companies, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the discussions. However some analysts believe that escalating tensions could threaten stock market's recovery. "I would prefer that the market not go up quite as fast because the sharper it moves higher, the more vulnerable it becomes to a pullback," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab  in Austin, Texas. President Donald Trump pledged to take action regarding Hong Kong situation by the end of the week.  Apart from that he is also planning to introduce an executive order designed  to make it easier to sue social media companies such as Twitter, days after the company placed a fact check label on two of his tweets. During today’s session Dow Jones rose 0.70 %, S&P 500 climbed 0.90 % and Nasdaq is trading 0.97% higher.

 

Increased volatility can be seen in the oil market today. Recent  EIA  report showed that oil inventories in the US increased by 7.928 million barrels after a 4.983 million decrease in the previous week, while analysts expected a 2.5 million drop.  Also, there are uncertainties surrounding Russia's commitment to keep production cuts beyond July when the current OPEC agreement expires. Early in the session WTI crude traded around $32.9 a barrel after falling near 3% and Brent crude was around $34.8 a barrel after declining 2%. However oil prices managed to erase early losses in the afternoon.

There are no major data prints scheduled for release tomorrow therefore trading is likely to be dominated by headline news. KOF Economic Barometer and CPI data from the Euro zone will be the key releases of the European session while Canada's GDP figures and  Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index will be on watch during US trading hours. Last but not least, Fed Chair Powell is scheduled top speak.