Stock markets in Europe are higher this morning as it seems that traders are less fearful of the lockdowns even though economic activity is likely to be curtailed because of the restrictions. Eurozone markets have recovered some of the losses they incurred yesterday and it is possible that a lot of the bad news relating to the health crisis is baked into stocks. In London, mining and oil stocks are helping the FTSE 100, which has been a common theme recently.
The major economies of Europe posted their latest services PMI reports today and all the updates showed there was negative growth in December. The Italian reading was by far the worst of the bunch as it was 39.7, which was a tiny increase on November’s 39.4, but it was nowhere near the 45.3 that economists were predicting. The readings from France, Germany, and the UK were 49.1, 47 and 49.4 respectively, and they all showed improvements on the month.
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