The US dollar is losing ground against other major currencies during early Monday trading. This softness is the result of the unwinding of safe haven trades that had built up during the darker days of the pandemic, when investors looked for the relative safety of the greenback. Nowadays the markets are more optimistic, with successful vaccination campaigns, and the approaching spring in the Northern Hemisphere, supporting hopes of a large economic rebound to follow once virus containment measures are relaxed.
Optimism about the vaccine roll out is ensuring markets remain in “risk on” mode. This, in conjunction with the huge liquidity injected by central banks, is pulling up stock markets. This positivity is also impacting oil, with both the main benchmarks recently climbing to their highest in 12 months, including WTI breaking through the psychological threshold of $60.
From a technical point of view, the trend remains bullish for both WTI and Brent. After a solid start with WTI jumping to $60.80, we have seen a modest correction, but the price is still holding above $60. This slight dip shouldn’t overly concern investors as it is more psychological than fundamental driven, while some traders have also taken profits after the recent rally.
Carlo Alberto De Casa – Chief analyst, ActivTrades
EUROPEAN SHARES
European markets opened close to record highs on Monday, following a solid bullish trading session in Asia as investors welcomed a batch of major data that exceeded expectations. The market euphoria is set to continue this week as more and more market operators continue to bet on a strong economic recovery in 2021, with energy shares and other cyclical assets expected to catch up with other sectors within their benchmarks. The Stoxx-50 Index opened higher, boosted by banks and energy shares, on thinner volumes than usual as both China and the US are closed today. One of the best performances comes from Italy after Mario Draghi was confirmed as the new Prime Minister, removing that element of uncertainty for European investors. This trading session is likely to remain mostly “technical” with limited macro data today apart from earnings from BHP Billiton and Michelin.
Pierre Veyret– Technical analyst, ActivTrades
Disclaimer: opinions are personal to the authors and do not reflect the opinions of LeapRate. This is not a trading advice.
Experienced writer and journalist, working in the global online trading sector, Steffy is the Editor of LeapRate. She has previous experience as a copywriter and has been with the company since January 2020. Steffy has a British and American Studies degree from St. Kliment Ochridski University in Sofia.
