Greater London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/07/2010 -- Financial spread betting expert Giles Watts of City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk) gives his EU Market update for December 1st
"European equity markets posted modest gains after US markets recovered much of yesterday’s lows as financials and commodity stocks rallied late in the session.
The FTSE 100 posted muted gains helped by moderate strength in the miners which was offset by weakness in Financials with Barclays bank suffering in particular, trading below 260p and near its five month lows.
With specific equity news thin on the ground, investors remained in the clutches of the edgy sentiment with concerns over Europe remaining at the fore. Providing substance to the fears was the continued pressure on the single currency, the Euro traded down a further 1% hovering tentatively above the psychological $1.3000 level against the dollar, marking fresh two month lows.
Adding to traders woes were resurfacing fears that any global recovery may be curtailed by inflationary pressures in China, the Shanghai Composite gave back 250 points overnights as feared remained that China could be forced to raise interest rates. Nervous investors will be looking at macro data this afternoon to restore some confidence, US house price data, Chicago PMI and consumer confidence should give a lead to the health of the US recovery.”
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