London View

European Markets Fall Further, Gold Rises

The week has started with further losses for European equity markets, with the Ukrainian and Middle Eastern situations showing no signs of immediate improvement. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% to 338.82 while the FTSE100 index fell by 0.4% and the DAX in Germany declined by 0.8%. US stock futures edged lower due to the losses in Europe.

Russian stocks declined for a sixth day on the tensions, with the MICEX Index falling around 1.3%. Russian President Putin has been under criticism for the country’s role in handling an investigation into the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane last week, which killed nearly 300 passengers and crew members.  US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that circumstantial evidence suggests the missile had been provided by Russia. Over the weekend European leaders threatened harsher sanctions against Russia after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Meanwhile, Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza continues to escalate; traders are worried that a prolonged clash in the Middle East will underpin the geopolitical tensions, curtailing appetite for risk. 

With heightened geopolitical risks injecting some volatility in markets, traditional safe-haven stocks were on the rise;  gold for August delivery was up $2.90 at $1,312.30 an ounce.  

More earnings results should be coming from the US today, with Halliburton, Hasbro and Netflix all due to report their quarterly results.