European markets opened more cautiously this week, following weakened sentiment in Asia and with US inflation numbers on the horizon.
ADVERTISEMENTEuropean stocks started the week on a sour note on Monday morning, taking a cue from Asian stocks, as markets look ahead to US inflation data later on in the week. This continues the trend of global stocks struggling to pick up speed in the new year so far.
The Stoxx 600 dipped 0.05% to €476.1, whereas the CAC 40 dropped 0.08% to €7,415. The FTSE 100 index slipped 0.2% to £7,671.6.
According to Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC markets, "Having managed to outperform its peers in 2022, the FTSE 100 has underperformed in 2023, despite posting an early record high in the early days of 2023, while the Nikkei 225 has surged, helped by the weakness of the Japanese yen."
"Yet there is no reason to suppose that stock markets won't maintain the resilience seen through 2023, with the FTSE 100 having strong support at 7,200 which needs to hold to maintain the outlook for further gains on a move through 7,750 and revisit the highs this year at 8,046," Hewson added.
Brent crude oil fell 1.41% to $77.6 (€70.9) per barrel on Monday morning, whereas crude oil inched lower 1.31% to $72.8 per barrel. Gold dropped 0.79% to 2,020.5 per troy ounce.
Aerospace and luxury stocks lead gains, while oil stocks trail
One of the top CAC 40 gainers on Monday was Airbus, which inched up 2%, to €142.6, following the company's new fireproofing being lauded as one of the main reasons the Japan Airlines crash passengers survived.
Pernod Ricard also inched up 1.40% to €148.9, with the company recently having sold its Czech herbal liqueur brand Becherovka to the Polish Maspex Group.
Among the top losers were TotalEnergies, which dipped 1.9% to €61.9, following the company announcing that it was selling its Scottish Seagreen wind farm stake to PTTEP, Thailand's national oil and gas company.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield also slipped 1.85% to €3.18. The company recently revealed that the largest privately-owned chain in Europe, Vue would be moving its headquarters to the Westfield White City mall in London.
What to watch in the week ahead
Following the release of EU economic sentiment and retail sales figures on Monday, the month-on-month German industrial production for November will be announced on Tuesday, expected to come in at 0.2%.
The much-awaited US inflation print for December is expected to come in on Thursday, with analysts estimating year-on-year inflation to be 3.2%. If so, this would be a slight rise from November’s 3.1% and could fan fears of the US Federal Reserve hiking rates once more.
