London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/21/2010 -- CFD trading expert Joshua Raymond of City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk), looks at EU indices market activity on 16th December:
“European Indices posted small losses into the close on Thursday with investors moving to scale down the amount of risky asset classes they held in their portfolios.
The move to scale down risky asset classes is more of a move to wrap positions up for the year end and for an expected leave of absence from the markets, with traders starting to think more about their Christmas shopping than stock investment. I get the feeling that we are now getting to that stage where most traders sit back, relax and reflect on a successful last few months trading. What we have also seen is strength in pharmaceutical and tobacco firms today, typical defensive stocks, and so naturally this adds weight to the downsizing of risky asset classes theme.
Right now, we are looking at the FTSE 100 Index posting gains of around 8% for the year and some may well see this as a good performance considering the impact of stricter regulation and liquidity requirements on banks and the European sovereign debt crisis.
There has been no overnight change in medium term sentiment to the downside and with the FTSE 100 hitting a new 29 month high today, the bias seems to remains bullish.
It was quadruple witching day today and so there has been a few sharp moves in both indices and stocks alike that had more to do with various expiries than news or sentiment.
BP shares fall on US lawsuit and profit taking
BP shares fell 1.5% on Thursday as investors sold stock on fears over the potential consequences of a US government lawsuit. BP’s shares have traded well of late, boosted by murmurs of bid interest and the lawsuit could put a few bumps in the road ahead, particularly if it significantly escalates the current cost of the spill. That said, with shares rallying over 12% this month alone, the lawsuit is being used as an excuse by investors to cash in profits as opposed to fears over any escalation in costs.”
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