Yesterday was another day of indecision, in which major equity indices were largely unchanged compared with events earlier in the week.
The most demonstrative move came from the VIX, which fell by 6.7% to close below the psychologically important 20.0 level. Despite that pullback, the VIX remains up by 59.8% year-to-date, and above its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages. However, there is the distinct possibility of a bearish moving average crossover on the index’s daily chart, with the potential for the faster-moving 20-day line to cross down through the slower-moving 50-day line.
Yesterday’s US session wasn't high volume either; volume increases were sporadic, and the volumes traded were often well below average. For example, Apple traded 36.615 million shares yesterday, with volume figures down by 12% compared to a rolling 20-day average and a far cry from the six-month and 52-week average volume figures.
There were some exceptions, however. ExxonMobil traded almost 38% more volume than its 20-day average, while turnover in Oracle was almost 75% above average. In terms of the biggest movers in the S&P 500, discount retailer Dollar Tree finished the session up by 7.72% at $68.47, but $14 below the high it posted on 3 September. Electronic bond trading platformMarketAxess added 6.68% as it released its August turnover figures, potentially benefiting from comments made by the Bank of America suggesting that online bond trading was starting to take off in Europe. The stock has rallied by more than 31% over the last three months.
Drug distributor McKesson was the biggest loser in the S&P, falling 9.9% after it lowered its earnings guidance below Wall Street’s forecasts. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) fell by 6.02% as it was downgraded by the Bank of America following its Q3 earnings, which featured disappointing numbers from its AI server business. HPE stock closed at $17.64, just over a dollar above its three-month lows of $16.61. The same issues have plagued its rival Dell, whose share price has lost 17.55% over the last month.
In the Euro Stoxx 50, chemicals group Bayer AG rallied by 3.9%, taking its weekly gains to 4.2% in the process, while BNP Paribas rose by 2.7%. Construction and energy group Vinci added 2.1%, while pan-European real-estate business Vonovia added another 1.8% and is now up by 7% over the last five trading days.
LVMH shares continued to decline; it was the biggest loser in the Euro Stoxx 50 yesterday, down by a further 3.6%, and has now lost 8.6% over the last week. Air Liquide was another notable faller, down by 3.1%. Shares in ASML Holdings slipped again, dropping by 2.2% and are now off by 12.5% on the week.
CFDs on US equity indices are lower in early European trade, with the S&P 500 down by 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 by as much as 0.69%. Crude oil is trading up by around 0.3%. Gold is unchanged at around $2,518 per ounce. US 10-year bond yields are fractionally lower this morning at 3.706% and the dollar index is down by 0.2%.
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