Greece dominates headlines as Alexis Tspiras sworn in

The Greek election continued to dominate headlines as Alexis Tspiras was officially sworn in as Greece’s new Prime Minister.

In a move that is sure to be completely stable, left-wing Syriza formed their coalition with the right-wing Independent Greeks, in a collaboration that solidifies the anti-austerity, anti-bailout nature of this new Greek government. Officials from the EU, Germany and the UK all moved to reassure investors that they are all willing to cooperate with this new government, with the rather large caveat that Greece obeys the pay-back rules that were created before this new regime.

The calm reaction from European governments, alongside the significant leftover good-will from last week’s QE confirmation, allowed the Eurozone indices to remain in the green, with the DAX set for an all-time record close. The challenge for the region now is weathering the impact of any Eurozone-related decisions Tspiras makes when he actually begins the practicalities of governing a debt-ridden Greece.

Despite touching upon the fabled $1300 per ounce level in the run up to last Thursday QE reveal, gold has struggled in the face of a newly resurgent dollar as a crippled euro has helped the greenback renew its dominance. Even though the EUR/USD had made some gains after assuaging remarks from Greek MPs over the country’s loyalty to the euro, the Eurozone currency is still a long way from being in a healthy position after the impact of the SNB decision/ECB QE double act in the last fortnight.

A looming blizzard piled onto an already dismal looking US open after New Yorkers were advised to stay at home. With a quiet day of data causing the US markets to stagnate, the Dow Jones et al. are likely to live and die on the state of this week’s company releases, in the single busiest week of the earnings season. In a week that sees announcements from Microsoft, Apple, Procter & Gamble, Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Alibaba and Chevron, there is the potential for a big boost for the US markets. However, so far investors have been bitterly disappointed by the figures revealed the year, so the pressure is on for this latest round of releases to perform.

Brent Crude oil rose back above $48 per barrel, with OPEC commenting that we may have reached the bottom of the commodity despite claims that it is still oversupplied by 1.5 million a day. Copper has also rebounded back to $2.50 per pound after slumping this morning; however the FTSE’s mining stocks are still suffering which has in turn ensured a dismal start to the week for the UK index. Tomorrow sees the UK’s preliminary GDP data and with analysts forecasting a drop to 0.6%, the bearish form the FTSE found itself in today looks set to continue.