European Markets Seen Declining On Monday

(RTTNews) - Stock markets in Europe are expected to trade lower on Monday amidst renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as well as concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence. Tech-led gains in Wall Street on Friday and momentum in Asian markets on Monday are expected to limit losses.

Wall Street had closed on a positive note on Friday as investors reacted to the month labor market data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.48 percent to finish trading at 49,504.07. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.81 percent to close trading at 23,671.35.

European markets too had closed on a strongly positive note on Friday amidst indications of a favorable macroeconomic situation. The pan-European Stoxx-50 surged 1.6 percent followed by France's CAC 40 that rallied 1.4 percent. U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.80 percent. Germany's DAX and Switzerland's SMI, both added 0.53 percent in Friday's trading.

Current indications from the European stock futures indicate a negative sentiment. The DAX Futures (Mar) is trading 0.17 percent lower. The pan-European Stoxx 50 Futures (Mar) is trading 0.08 percent lower. The FTSE 100 Futures (March) is however trading 0.14 percent lower. The CAC 40 Futures (Feb) stood 1.43 percent above the flatline on Friday. The SMI Futures (Mar) also moved 0.60 percent higher on Friday.

American stock futures are trading in negative territory. The US 30 (DJIA) is trading 0.52 percent lower, whereas the US500 (S&P 500) is trading 0.63 percent below the flatline.

Asian stock markets are trading on a mixed note amidst the Trump-Fed feud, geopolitical tensions and a limited global tech momentum. China's Shanghai Composite has surged 0.87 percent whereas Hong Kong's Hang Seng has added 1.1 percent. South Korea's KOSPI has rallied 0.36 percent. Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 0.48 percent. India's Nifty 50 has witnessed a decline of 0.52 percent. DJ New Zealand declined 0.12 percent. Markets in Japan are closed for a holiday.

The Dollar Index, a measure of the U.S. dollar's strength relative to six currencies, is trading at 98.93, declining 0.20 percent from 99.13 on Friday as markets digested the escalation in tensions between the White House and the Federal Reserve. The EUR/USD pair has rallied 0.27 percent to 1.1669 and the GBP/USD pair has gained 0.23 percent to trade at 1.3434. The USD/CHF pair is trading 0.44 percent lower at 0.7979. The EUR/GBP pair is trading 0.05 percent higher at 0.8687.

Amidst geopolitical tensions as well as renewed concerns about the Fed's independence triggered by the Trump-Fed feud, gold prices touched a fresh all-time high of $4,612.40 on Monday. Prices have since retreated and Gold Futures for February settlement are currently trading at $4,591.64, more than 2 percent higher than the previous close of $4,500.90.

Both the crude oil benchmarks are trading well above the flatline amidst concerns over the crude oil supply from Iran. Brent Crude Futures for March settlement is trading at $63.53, 0.28 percent higher than $63.34 at close on Friday. WTI Crude Futures for March settlement is currently at $59.29, around 0.59 percent higher than $58.94 at the previous close.

Major releases due from the region on Monday include Consumer Confidence for December from Switzerland as well as BRC Retail Sales Monitor for December from the U.K. Major updates to earnings due from the region include Hornbach-Baumarkt as well as Knights Group.