European stocks edged lower after ending last week with sharp gains
Last Friday, Wall Street stocks finished higher as investors shrugged off coronavirus concerns to look ahead to U.S. earnings reports, with banks reporting earnings this week. As such, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.13% and 1.30%, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite added nearly 1%.
The optimism spilled over into Asia’s equity trading session, with all regional indexes finishing in positive territory. The Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.67% after the Chinese central bank reduced the level of reserves commercial banks must hold. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rallied 2.25% while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.62%.
However, European stocks edged lower on Monday after ending last week with sharp gains. Regional equities reversed course amid worries that the spread of new coronavirus variants could hurt a global economic recovery. following marginal gains at the opening bell, the pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.1%.
Meanwhile, the dollar is holding relatively steady at the start of the week. EURUSD has settled around 1.1870 following another failed attempt to break above the intermediate resistance in the 1.1880 area. It looks like the pair will struggle to regain upside momentum in the short term. in his latest remarks, ECB vice president, Luis de Guindos, said that the central bank expects inflation to be on the rise until the year-end.
Elsewhere, gold prices turned marginally lower on Monday but still holding around $1,800. The XAUUSD pair is now stuck between the key moving averages, with the immediate resistance arriving at $1,810. If dollar demand reemerges any time soon, the precious metal could get back under $1,800 to target the $1,790 area where the 20- and 100-DMAs converge.
