As Testing Month Begins, Stocks Rise Again – Europe Market Wrap

Stocks recovered modestly from a technology-led selloff, establishing a more stable tone at the start of a month that might bring plenty of challenges to markets trading near record highs.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 0.2%. Defence stocks rose after the Financial Times reported that Europe is developing detailed plans for potential post-conflict deployments in Ukraine. A regional index for technology stocks remained stable.

Asian markets were mixed, with Alibaba rising 19% as chipmaker shares fell. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%, with cash trade in US stocks and Treasuries halted for the Labour Day holiday. The Dollar remained quite stable.

In commodity markets, silver surpassed $40 per ounce for the first time since 2011. Gold edged closer to an all-time high as expectations grew that the Fed would decrease interest rates this month.

With a week until a confidence vote that might destabilise France’s government and deal another blow to efforts to reduce the Eurozone’s largest deficit, European bonds fell broadly. The French-German 10-year spread, a fundamental measure of risk, remained unchanged at 78 bps. The gauge closed at 82 on August 27th, its highest level since January.