European Stocks Trade Below All-Time Highs, US Futures Lower

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Principal Points

• Markets in Europe slid below Friday levels, Stoxx 600 dropped right out of the gate
• Futures contracts on US stocks declined in after-hours trading, Dow futures down about 80 points

Stocks across European markets traded strongly to the upside over the last week, outperforming their Wall Street rivals. The pan-European Stoxx 600 registered its tenth straight day of gains as it sealed a 1.2% advance for the week.

The broad-based stock gauge finished Friday’s trading up by 0.99 points, or 0.21%, to 475.83. The ten-day winning streak was the index’s best consistent upside swing since December 2006.

All major European bourses moved higher during Friday’s session. UK’s FTSE100 led the gains among the main indexes as it added 0.35% to finish the day at 7,218.71.

The German DAX climbed 0.25% to close the session at 15,977.44. At one point, the index ticked above 16,000 points, setting an intraday record, but the momentum faded and the benchmark slipped below the threshold.

Adidas was among the best performers in the German market on Friday. The sportswear retailer said it had secured a deal to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group. The price tag of the deal is expected to land at €2.1bn ($2.5bn). Adidas shares were up 2.3%, helping buoy the DAX higher on the day.

The French CAC40 added 0.20% to 6,896.04. During the session, the French stock market gauge briefly surpassed the 6,900 milestone, marking a 21-year high. French healthcare company Ipsen, not part of the CAC40 companies, tumbled 12.7% after it announced it is withdrawing a new drug application from the US. The news pushed the company’s stock to the bottom of the Stoxx Europe 600 index.

American Markets Grind Even Higher

Meanwhile, in US markets, stocks continued to grind higher on Friday. Investors slightly increased their bets on companies positioned to benefit from the approved $1tn stimulus bill on infrastructure. The Dow Jones added a little over 15 points, to close at a new all-time high of 35,515.38. The S&P500 was also in the green on the day, up roughly 7 points to a fresh record closing of 4,468.00. The tech-centred Nasdaq Composite pushed higher by nearly 7 points to close the session at 14,822.90.

The relatively thin trading on Wall Street translated to a weekly gain of 0.8% for the blue-chip 30-stock Dow Jones. The S&P500 advanced 0.7% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite ended the week lower by about 0.1%.

On Monday, European stocks have retreated from their Friday closing levels. As soon as the market opened for trading, the Stoxx 600 benchmark tumbled about 3 points.

Futures contracts tied to the main US equity gauges declined in pre-market trading. Dow futures slid as much as 150 points or roughly 0.40%, but later recovered a bit and hovered lower by roughly 80 points. S&P500 futures dropped about 15 points to their lowest level, while Nasdaq futures were little changed.

Digital assets broadly moved higher in the early trading hours of today’s session. Bitcoin reached an intraday high of $48,000. Buyers, however, could not support the climb and presently the leading cryptocurrency gravitates toward the area of $47,300.

Ether, the second-largest digital token, is trading near the flatline, currently at $3,270. Dogecoin has been significantly active over the past few days. The Shiba Inu-themed token favored by Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now trading at levels above $0.33, up more than 40% for the last seven days.