Markets are striking a more optimistic tone at the beginning of the week. Some governments are targeting Easter as a time to begin rolling
MARKETS
The Dow Jones fell on Friday as investors had to contend with another selloff in big tech, led by Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Friday moves came as four major types of options contracts were set to expire in a quadruple witching, triggering a rise in volatility. European equities were down around half a per cent.
The dollar closed the week lower following two weeks of gains not so much in response to the Fed but amid rising fears of a US election without a clear result in five weeks time. Gold edged up for a second week but remains rangebound while oil came back strong thanks to tough talk from OPEC+ on better compliance to output cuts.
DAY AHEAD
For the day ahead there is the reaction to President Donald Trump approving the TikTok Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) deal, a speech from Jay Powell and earnings from Superdry.
The theme over the last three weeks has been the sell-off in tech stocks and a small part of that has had to do with the move by Trump against Chinese social media company TikTok and any possible tit-for-tat moves by China against US tech. Trump signing off on the deal with Oracle could provide some sort of lift to markets after a down-day on Friday.
Federal Reserve Chair Powell and governors Brainard and Williams (NYSE:WMB) all give speeches on Monday in what is likey going to be the biggest influence on FX markets in a quiet day on the economic calendar. The aim will presumably be to set the messaging straight from last week’s Fed meeting, where the general conclusion from markets seemed to be that the Fed was dovish as least in contrast to the other central banks. The dollar index dropped last week after two weeks of gains.
Superdry will report full year results in what has clearly been a very tough second half of their fiscal year. The UK clothing retailer was already facing the uncertainty of a board room revolt against founder Julian Dunkerton last year. The good news is that its medium term finances are in order after agreeing a new £70m debt facility until Jan 2023. Now the company will just need to show it has a plan to come out the other side of COVID-19 that one would hope heavily leans on its e-commerce business to make up the deficit if stores have to close again.