US stocks rise but Europe falters

Chris Beauchamp IG

The pre-Christmas rally appears to have begun on Wall Street, but in Europe festive cheer is lacking again, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading platform IG.

Wall Street rallies while Europe struggles

It will come as no surprise to investors to hear that the final full week of trading in global markets in 2024 has started with more gains for the US while Europe struggles. The Nasdaq 100 has hit a fresh record high, and small caps are in demand, as the final year-end chase gets underway. This is the ‘Santa rally’ almost right on cue, with most US stocks having struggled in the first half of December, a tradition as hallowed as the second half’s gains.

Political turmoil beckons for Europe

Germany is now set for elections early next year, promising to throw in a new ingredient to Europe’s heady brew of political instability. French stocks were in ‘buy the rumour, sell the news’ mode, falling once again after a brief rally following the collapse of the Barnier government. While his successor is now hard at work, the problems he faces remain intractable.

Author

Chris Beauchamp

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.