No news is bad news as a quiet economic day leads to stagnant markets

As the day went on the global markets couldn’t escape the trends they had settled into this morning, with the macroeconomic picture hardly changing this afternoon. This comes as the dual negatives of Greece and oil continue to pile onto the home-grown woes of many of the world’s indices.

After another day at around $65 per barrel, this seems to be Brent Crude’s current support level; however with the black stuff breaching the previous marks of $80 and $70 with little impunity, further falls are most likely in store. As global oil producers continue to nervously eye each other, no one is willing to pull the trigger and cut oil production; without this drastic move, oil can only remain above $65 for so long.

Despite a lunch time rally prompted by rocketing Ashtead stocks, the FTSE reverted to its recent losing trend this afternoon, as weak oil continued to prey on the FTSE’s multiple energy stocks. The UK index has fallen 200 points in 3 days, with no news on the horizon to provide a turnaround. This followed the BBC’s morning warning that a raise in interest rates would be a ‘high risk’ for the UK economy. Bank of England chief Mark Carney responded with ambivalence to these comments, stating that rates will raise in 2015 regardless of the BBC downgrading the UK’s growth forecasts for the year.

With more Greek tragedy on the cards, the DAX lost some of its morning resilience to slip lower on the charts as the day went on. The rally it received from the smoke-and-mirrors approach to Eurozone stimulus the ECB is employing at the moment couldn’t last and the German index suffered this Wednesday afternoon. However, tomorrow sees the European Central Bank announce the targeted long term refinancing options; following Greece’s newest bailout, and the Eurozone’s general downturn, this figure should cause a lot of movement on the European markets.

Once more the Dow Jones suffered after the bell, falling to 17736 after opening at 17795, as the 18000 mark recedes from view. Whilst the Dow could still reach this significant level, after being so close the world’s economic news seems to have conspired to ensure that the US index has a rockier road than predicted to cross that psychological boundary. The dollar has also been in decline against the yen, now trading at the upper 118s after peaking at 121 at the start of the weak. It is unclear at the moment whether the Dow and dollar’s downturn is purely due to the worldwide bearish sentiment, or whether these markets flew too close to the sun, with investors unwilling to take the risks required to continually push these markets to new highs.

An answer may be provided tomorrow, as the US releases its core retail figures and unemployment claims. The US markets will be hoping these numbers provide a much needed bright spot in a gloomy week that has been light on self-produced US positivity.