On Thursday, world financial markets finished trading with a slump in major stock indices. In Europe, the British FTSE 100 fell 0.55 percent down to 6,679.37 points, the German DAX 30 dropped 1.21 percent down to 9,851.35 points, and the French CAC 40 slumped 1.55 percent closing at 4,323.89 points. Investors were disappointed with ECB President Mario Draghi’s speech. He assured that the ECB was ready to undertake additional economic stimulus measures if needed but he didn’t clarify what those measures might be.
Russia’s equity also went down – the MICEX index fell 1.54 percent down to 1,582.08 points, and the RTS index plunged 3.16 percent altogether, reaching 918.65 points.
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.07 percent down to 17,900.10 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.12 percent down to 2,071.92 points, and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.11 percent finishing the trading session at 4,769.44 points.
On the global commodity market, oil prices went down some more. In New York, the price of WTI oil futures for January delivery dropped by $0.57 down to $66.81 a barrel. The price of Brent oil futures for January fell by $0.28 and closed at $69.64 a barrel. Yesterday Saudi Arabia announced discounts for Asian and American consumers in January.
On the Forex market, EUR/USD finished trading below 1.24 yesterday. The forecast for a downward movement holds so far.
Anna Gorenkova
NordFX Analyst