Global Markets Flat, Oil, Earnings and Profit Taking 22nd April 2016

Toronto, Canada, April 22, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Baumann Group

Global Markets Flat, Oil, Earnings and Profit Taking 22nd April 2016

Global markets have taken a step back on Thursday as a slew of earnings were reported, Oil faltered and Profit taking was the name of the game.

Evan Campbell, PR Manager

Global markets have taken a step back on Thursday as a slew of earnings were reported, Oil faltered and Profit taking was the name of the game.

Whilst the European Central Bank Head, Mario Draghi kept rates the same, he also came under fire from the German contingent whose concerns about rates in the EU and its effect on savers did little to buoy the local markets.

With rates still at record lows globally, the ECB continued its program on monetary easing and Mr. Draghi implied should the situation continue in the Eurozone, he may be forced to increase QE within the current mandate.

European Closes 21st April

FTSE – 6,381.44 -28.82 (-0.45%)

DAX – 10,435.73 +14.44 (+0.14%)

CAC – 4,582.83 -9.09 (-0.20%)

Bel – 3,490.38 -9.71 (-0.28%)

SMI – 8,159.67 -27.30 (-0.33%)

US Markets fared little better with earnings season data that came in above expectations yet still showed concerns about the 2nd Quarter. The International Energy Administration said that non OPEC Oil production would be at its lowest levels in 25yrs, this news along with the uncertainty of whether OPEC will agree a production curb in June saw the commodity gain over 3% in Thursday trading.

US Crude $42.63 (+3.64%)

Brent $45.80 (3.86%)

The major news yesterday came from the motoring industry in the US. Whilst VW managed to come to a tentative agreement with the government to compensate its customers either by vehicle buybacks or payments in the region of $5,000.00. Whilst VW was fixing its PR nightmare, Mitsubishi’s R&D department in Japan were raided as news that their fuel economy figures were significantly inflated. The company immediately announced full co-operation with all agencies yet the stock lost 20% in intra day trading and is now at 20 year lows.

With two heavyweights feeling the pinch, GM managed to book profits twice as expected due to strong domestic growth and expansion in Asia.

US markets closed flat on Thursday with the S&P 500 posting 10 new 52 week highs and no new lows, The NASDAQ saw 47 gainers against 19 losers yet the New York Stock Exchange had 1,897 losers against 1,095 winners on the day.

Volume finally returned to the markets as 7.3Bn shares were traded, well up on the 20-day average of 6.8Bn, a strong signal that profit taking was the order of the day.

US Market Closes 21st April

Dow Jones – 17,982.52 -113.75 (-0.63%)

S&P 500 – 2,091.48 -10.92 (-0.52%)

NASDAQ – 4,945.89 -2.24 (-0.05%)

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Source: Baumann Group