Markets set for further highs as sentiment remains strong
Global markets started the week pushing all-time highs as the ramifications of the US-China trade deal continue to be felt.
After last week saw the S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq and the Euro Stoxx 600 all hit new records, the Nikkei nudged up 0.2 per cent this morning to sit roughly seven per cent below all time highs.
Chinese shares also remained firm, with the blue-chip CSI300 index rising 0.7 per cent.
In early trading, the Euro Stoxx 50 futures, German DAX futures and FTSE futures each added 0.1 per cent, with the FTSE 100 on track to test 7,700 today.
US markets are closed today due to Martin Luther King day, which means we should expect to see “somewhat reduced liquidity”, said Neil Wilson, chief markets analyst for markets.com.
The US’ earnings season will continue this week with around 40 large firms set to report results this week, including Netflix, Intel and Texas Instruments.
With the new decade only three weeks old, the S&P 500 has gained just over three per cent and the Nasdaq almost five per cent.
Meanwhile, oil spiked this morning after forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar closed a pipeline in Libya, crippling roughly 1.2m barrels worth of production a day.
Brent crude rose over one per cent to £65.59, but Wilson said that these are unlikely to be serious outages.
He said: “I don’t think we are seeing a major disruption – certainly any spare capacity can simply be absorbed by other Opec members gladly pumping a little more to compensate.”
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