25th April 2017

Gold lost about $12/ounce on Monday, the first full day of trading after Sunday night’s French results, but significantly, its losses were pretty much in line with the decline we saw on Sunday night. However, it was the turn of other markets to make more of a statement and nowhere was this as apparent as in the global equity markets. In this regard, US stocks cobbled together a monstrous 216-point gain (basis the Dow), while the NASDAQ and the S&P-500 each rose by 74 points and 25 points respectively. The US market was also helped by the fact that first-quarter earnings reports have gotten off to a good start; of the 100 S&P-500 companies that have reported so far, Reuters notes that 77% have beaten profit expectations. Gains in European bourses were just as striking, with the French market finishing up more than 4%, while the DAX and the FTSE each were up by 2.1% and 3.4%, respectively. European bank shares jumped a whopping 7.4%, as short bets against them were unwound.