EU Market Review 24th May 2021

by Elina Nikolova

Enel Servizio Elettrico S.p.A (ENEL) recovered from March 2020 lows after the pandemic hit Italy hard. The share managed to recover lost ground, hitting all-time highs on January 12th 2021 at €9.047. The price is now trading above the valid uptrend line formed from the March 16th 2020 low at €8.19, which is offering strong support at the moment. The price also bounced back on the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level of the last upward move at €8.145 which coincides with the uptrend line. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is just below the mid-point 50 level pointing upwards trying to go into bullish territory, but it is still in bearish area. The 200 Day moving Average (MA200) also offered strong support for the price as it was tested and price bounced back off of it twice. Despite disappointing Earnings result in May with just 25% of the expected EPS paid out to investors, the sentiment remains optimistic.
For the bulls, strong resistance at 8.43 inside resistance level formed from the April 14th low, also at 8.770 derived from the April 23rd top and finally at 9.047 at the yearly high of January 12th 2021.
For the bears, a break and close below the valid trendline may signal a sell-off. Important resistances at 7.997 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level, at 0.7855 from the May 13th low and finally at 7.521 derived from the March 3rd low of the last upward movement.

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• It will be a quiet day on the EU economic calendar, due to a Bank holiday in France and Germany among other EU countries. There are no important news announcements on the docket.
European stocks rose on Friday, as Swiss luxury goods maker Richemont jumped after its results and accelerating business growth in the euro zone kept investors cautiously optimistic in the face of rising inflation worries.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.6%, capping the week with a small gain.

Asia Pacific stocks were mixed Monday morning following the cryptocurrency market volatility and as concerns about the slowdown of stimulus measures continued. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.37% by 11:21 PM ET (3:21 AM GMT), with Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda due to speak later in the day. In Australia, the ASX 200 inched up 0.10%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.33%. China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.17% while the Shenzhen Component was down 0.41%.

• A preliminary PMI covering the 19-country euro zone's dominant service industry bounced to 55.1 from April's 50.5, well above the 52.3 median forecast in the Reuters poll and its highest since June 2018.
Services firms benefited from the release of pent-up demand. The new business index - which has been below 50 almost throughout the pandemic - soared to 56.7 from 49.7, its highest since January 2018.

• German services activity rose by the most in nearly a year in May, helped by a loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, while supply bottlenecks in manufacturing led to production problems at a growing number of factories, a survey showed on Friday.
IHS Markit's flash Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of activity in the services sector jumped to 52.8 from 49.9 in April. That beat a Reuters poll forecast of 52.0 and was the highest reading since last July.
The flash PMI for manufacturing eased to 64.0 from 66.2 in the previous month. The figure came in weaker than expected, but was still well above the 50 mark which separates growth from contraction.
As a result, the preliminary composite PMI, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors that together account for more than two-thirds of the German economy, rose to 56.2 in May from 55.8 in the previous month.

• British shoppers splashed out on new clothes in April after shops reopened following months of lockdown closures, adding to signs of a robust economic recovery, official data showed on Friday.
Sales volumes in April jumped 9.2% month on month - twice the average forecast in a Reuters poll of economists and the biggest rise since June - after rising 5.1% in March. Clothing sales soared by almost 70%.

European indices Friday:

• DAX: +0.44%
• EURO: +0.65%
• MIB: +1.10%
• CAC: +0.68%

Sources: Investing.com, forexfactory.com