European equities opened lower to start the session, mirroring a largely softer tone in US futures
Overnight, US stocks recovered from their biggest loss in nearly three months. The bounce was due to strong economic reports including unemployment data coupled with hopes for Biden’s aid package. On the other hand, worries grow that the plan might be scaled back under pressure from Republican legislators. As such, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones added nearly 1% while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.
Despite the renewed positive momentum in the US, Asian markets were lower on Friday, as market players continue to monitor coronavirus infection spikes in Europe and Asia as well as renewed travel curbs in some countries. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.63%, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 1.89%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.67%, the Kospi in Seoul plunged by 3.03% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney fell 0.64%.
Following suit, European equities opened lower to start the session, mirroring a largely softer tone in US futures, with S&P 500 futures down 1.2%. It looks like investor sentiment remains hurt by a surge in speculative trading from retail investors after synthetic moves in GameStop, spurred by a Reddit community. As such, the Eurostoxx index is losing over 1% at the start of the session.
Meanwhile, dollar demand prevails in the markets as safe-haven demand persists. While EURUSD is trying to hold above the 1.2100 handle, the USDJPY pair has rallied above the significant 100-DMA that had been acting as resistance since last June. As such, a daily and weekly close above this moving average that arrives around 104.40 would be a confirmation of the latest breakout following three days of a rally. Later in the day, personal income data and Yellen’s speech could affect dynamics in USD pairs.
