European stocks experienced an uplift on Monday following the announcement that U.S. President Joe Biden had withdrawn from the presidential race. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.5% higher, though the oil and gas, travel and leisure, retail, and insurance sectors remained in negative territory.
The global market response to Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee was significant. This development came after Biden’s disappointing debate performance in June and amid increasing polls favouring a potential victory for former President Donald Trump in the November elections.
On Sunday night, S&P 500 futures saw a slight increase after the broad market index experienced its worst weekly losses since April last week, driven by a shift of investor interest from megacap technology stocks to smaller names. Conversely, Asia-Pacific markets declined overnight, while China’s central bank made an unexpected rate cut, reducing the short-term 7-day reverse repurchase rate from 1.8% to 1.7%.
In other developments, Ryanair is set to report its earnings on Monday, and the latest Spanish consumer confidence figures are due to be released.
These events highlight the interconnectedness of global markets and the significant impact of political developments on investor sentiment and market performance.
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