In This Article:
Economic Calendar:
Thursday, 20th August
German PPI (MoM) (Jul)
Friday, 21st August
French Manufacturing PMI (Aug) Prelim
French Services PMI (Aug) Prelim
German Manufacturing PMI (Aug) Prelim
German Services PMI (Aug) Prelim
Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Aug) Prelim
Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Aug) Prelim
Eurozone Services PMI (Aug) Prelim
The Majors
It was a relatively bullish day for the European majors on Wednesday. The CAC40 and DAX30 rose by 0.79% and by 0.74% respectively, with the EuroStoxx600 rising by 0.65%.
The upside came ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes scheduled for release after the European close.
With economic data on the lighter side, there was little to stop the European majors from tracking the U.S equity markets.
Negative sentiment towards the rising tensions between the U.S and China and the failure by lawmakers to deliver the COVID-19 stimulus package lingered, however.
The Stats
It was a quiet day on the Eurozone economic calendar. Key stats included the Eurozone’s finalized inflation figures for July.
In July, the core annual rate of inflation picked up from 0.8% to 1.2%, which was in line with prelim figures.
While consumer prices fell by 0.4% in July, reversing a 0.3% rise in June, the annual rate of inflation picked up from 0.3% to 0.4%. This was also in line with prelim figures and forecasts.
According to Eurostat,
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The lowest annual rates were registered in Greece (-2.1%), Cyprus (-2.0%), and Estonia (-1.3%).
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In July, the highest contribution to the annual rate of inflation came from non-energy industrial goods and services. Both increased by 0.42 percentage points.
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Food, alcohol & tobacco prices (+0.38 pp) also provided support, while energy prices (-0.83 pp) weighed.
From the U.S
It was a quiet day on the economic calendar, with no material stats from the U.S to influence through the European session.
While there were no stats, the markets were looking ahead to the FOMC meeting minutes due out after the European close.
The Market Movers
For the DAX: It was another mixed day for the auto sector on Wednesday. Continental fell by 1.10% to buck the trend on the day. BMW and Daimler saw gains of 0.62% and 0.84% respectively, with Volkswagen ending the day up by 0.22%.
It was a bullish day for the banks. Deutsche Bank reversed Tuesday’s 1.40% loss, rallying by 2.59%, with Commerzbank gaining 2.05%.
From the CAC, it was a bullish day for the banks. BNP Paribas rallied by 2.63%, with Credit Agricole and Soc Gen rising by 1.52% and by 1.27% respectively.
It was also a bullish day for the French auto sector. Peugeot and Renault ended the day with gains of 0.80% and 1.50% respectively.