Brent oil prices are stable during early Wednesday trading, with March futures contracts remaining below the 80 dollars per barrel level. Despite the reopening of China, the outlook for crude remains uncertain. The dominating sentiment in the oil market is bearish, due to the ongoing covid outbreaks in China, as well a high likelihood of a recession in Europe and in the US. Against this background, and with supply remaining stable, expectations for future demand have been downgraded, a scenario that weighs on the price of futures contracts keeping them below pre-Ukraine war levels.
Ricardo Evangelista – Senior Analyst, ActivTrades
European Shares
Stocks edged higher in Europe on Wednesday, extending gains registered by Asian benchmarks overnight, as bullish sentiment stays alive ahead of key macro data.
Consumer cyclicals, real estate and energy shares led the way following the opening bell, while industrials and utilities registered slight losses on the old continent, as market sentiment remains broadly resilient.
The prospect of a less cloudy economic outlook in both Europe and the US after recession risks in both regions eased back, combined with the reopening of the Chinese economy, is providing strong support towards risk appetite from investors. The lack of clear hints from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell yesterday also contributed to keeping the bullish trading stance alive, and most traders will now look towards tomorrow’s US inflation print for further clues.
The DAX-40 index still trades above the 14,800.0pts level following a technical pull-back on its last top after yesterday’s bullish trading session. The next short- to mid-term target can be found around 15,115.0pts (50% Fibonacci extension) while a break-out of the 14,800.0pts support would invalidate the current bullish trend and could drive prices back towards 14,670.0pts.
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.
