Wall Street pauses near highs

US indices hit record highs on Friday after it was announced that the Phase 1 US-China trade deal had been agreed by US President Trump. A lack of details on the agreement saw indices fall back into the close and today’s open has been muted. UK markets cheered the Conservative Party’s convincing win in the election as some of the future Brexit clouds dissipated. Markit’s December flash PMIs from around the globe are due today.

US30USD Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

• The US30 index hit record highs but then retreated to close little changed on Friday

• The 55-day moving average, which has supported prices since October 10, has risen to 27,357 while trendline support is around the 27,205 level

• The flash Markit PMI for December is expected to show a slight down-tick to 52.4 from 52.6, according to the latest survey.

DE30EUR Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

• The Germany30 index surged to the highest since January 2018 on Friday following the US-China trade deal

• The 55-day moving average has advanced to 12,890 and has also supported prices since October 10

• Markit’s December flash PMI readings for both Germany and the Euro-zone are due today. Germany’s is seen improving to 44.4 from 44.1 while that for the Euro-zone probably rose to 47.1 from 46.9, according to the latest surveys of economists.

UK100GBP Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

• UK shares jumped the most since the end of July on Friday after Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party’s resounding election win made the January 31 Brexit deadline clearer and more of a reality. No doubt there still remains a lot of negotiating to be done

• The index spiked to the highest in just over two weeks and closed above the 200-day moving average for the first time since November 29

• The Markit flash manufacturing PMI is expected to rise to 49.4 in December from 48.9 the previous month.