European stock markets traded cautiously on Monday morning, with indices slightly down, and ahead of the Christmas holidays, there are currently no news that could significantly impact market direction.
STOXX 600 index of leading European stocks was down 0.1 percent at 9:30 AM. The London FTSE index slid 0.18 percent to 8,070 points, while the Frankfurt DAX weakened 0.16 percent to 19,850 points, and the Paris CAC fell 0.20 percent to 7,259 points.
In contrast, most Asian stock markets saw an increase in share prices. MSCI Asia-Pacific index was up 0.4 percent at 9:30 AM, after plummeting about 3 percent last week.
This morning, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange strengthened by 1.2 percent, while share prices in Hong Kong, Australia, and South Korea rose between 0.8 and 1.7 percent. In Shanghai, however, prices fell by about 0.5 percent.
The rise in most indices is primarily attributed to a correction in share prices following last week’s sharp decline.
Thus, Asian markets are following the rise in stock indices on Wall Street on Friday.
Market support was provided by a last-minute agreement in the U.S. Congress on Friday regarding the funding of government services, which avoided the shutdown of some of these services that could harm the economy.
The dollar slightly weakened, oil prices rose
On the currency markets, the value of the dollar against a basket of currencies slightly fell, after rising 0.8 percent last week.
The dollar index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar against the other six major world currencies, was around 107.72 points this morning, down from 108.08 points on Friday evening.
The dollar’s exchange rate against the Japanese currency rose from 156.35 to 156.55 yen. However, the U.S. currency weakened against the European currency, with the euro reaching 1.0445 dollars, compared to 1.0430 dollars on Friday evening.
Oil prices, on the other hand, rose after falling more than 2 percent last week. The price of a barrel on the London market strengthened by 0.47 percent to 73.30 dollars, while on the U.S. market, a barrel increased by 0.53 percent to 69.85 dollars.
