As the trading week gets underway, it is more of the same for the world’s financial markets. Stock markets remain buoyant with the major European and US indices sticking near their highs for the year so far.
These are now almost four months into a very strong recovery with plenty of investors wondering when a correction is going to happen. We are well overdue at least a slight sell-off – but at the moment even any temporary weakness has been met with buyers stepping in and stopping any significant falls. With the Easter holidays it could end up being a low volatility few days for shares.
Another market that has had all the excitement sucked out of it in recent weeks is the pound. Like many of us, it does seem to have got bored with the various Brexit developments – or lack of them. UK politicians are on what they probably see as a much-needed break until after Easter, so the calm state of the British currency looks set to carry on until at least the end of next week. For now against the dollar the 1.30 mark has proved to be a reasonably solid floor.
With all this calmness in markets, gold has been losing some of its shine. Traditionally seen as a safe haven in times of trouble, we have not had much of that in recent months. The price has been edging lower and many traders will be keeping a keen eye on the $1275 level. This has been the low for 2019 so far – a break below here could signal the start of a deeper sell-off, which is why it is likely to remain a focus for metals and currency traders alike in the week ahead.
*This is market commentary information, therefore it shall not be regarded as investment research or investment advice. Also note that past performance is not reliable indicator for the future.
