Market update: European car sales fall to a 17-year low – 16.07.2013

 Source: Henderson Global Investors

US equities extended their gains at the start of the week with both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 advancing 0.1% yesterday. The positive sentiment was driven by a weaker than expected retail sales number, which reduced fears of near term Fed (Federal Reserve) tapering. A good quarterly earnings report by Citigroup lifted the banking sector higher by 0.8% and also contributed to the market sentiment. Overnight, stocks in Asia remained in positive territory with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 adding 0.6%.

European equities opened higher this morning despite data releases showing that European car sales fell to a 17-year low. The UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.3% and the FTSE Eurofirst 300 is down 0.2% at the time of writing. Looking to the day ahead, the German ZEW (economic sentiment) survey and the UK CPI (Consumer Price Index) numbers are major economic releases that could shape the trading activity on the European stock bourses.