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.
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