Back to Work

Today marks the first full day of trading around the globe as major markets return from post-New Year and bank holidays.

The first days of 2017 are a far cry from what we saw last year as stock carried over the surge from late 2016 into the new year. The US and the UK bourses will start trading today while most Asian and European equities already chalked up gains on Monday, the latter boosted by better than expected manufacturing data in Italy.

The data for Italy comes on the back of multi-year highs for German manufacturing PMIs and Euro-area manufacturing data, reinforcing the belief that Europe’s recovery is intact going into 2017.

Other than that, news was – as customary for the first few days of the year – somewhat slow. Most markets will be once again be closed or have reduced trading hours due to the Epiphany on Friday, making this week a somewhat shortened one. With liquidity not yet back at normal levels, it’s a bit difficult to judge whether the performance over the first few days is indicative of a greater trend across markets.

If You Look Hard Enough…

The day did offer two interesting snippets though. Popular crypto-currency Bitcoin surged above the $1,000 level for the first time since December 2013, a move attributed to increased demand in China where the vast majority of transactions are carried out in a bid to avoid capital controls. Bitcoin is historically volatile, and frequently experiences moves of around 10% on a daily basis. The last time it hit $1,000 – back in December 2013 – it fell by a whopping 60% after a hack on one popular exchange, but it has seemed much more stable since.

South Korean newspaper Joongang Daily cited unnamed sources on Monday when it reported that Samsung will publish the results of the investigation in what caused many of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to spontaneously combust. Samsung had warned of a hit to its operating profit to the tune of around $5.1 billion over 3 quarters after the decision to halt sales of the infamous device back in October. Many market participants expect a thorough investigation, which would show Samsung’s commitment to identify the problem, fix it, and rebuild trust with their consumers.