TOPICS COVERED IN THIS MARKET BRIEFING:

• European stock markets digest ECB announcements
• Wall Street is still waiting for a stimulus package
• Chart of the day — USD/CHF: the dollar increases its losses

EUROPEAN STOCK EXCHANGES DIGEST ECB ANNOUNCEMENTS

European stock markets finished in mixed order on Thursday. A disappointing American economic indicator and the unsurprising decisions of the European Central Bank, which has lowered its 2021 growth forecast, encouraging investors to be cautious despite progress in coronavirus vaccines and rising oil prices

The ECB has announced new measures to support the economy and credit, starting with an increase of 500 billion euros in its PEPP debt purchase program, which has also been extended by nine months. But it also lowered its economic growth forecast for the eurozone in 2021, to 3.9% from 5% expected in September

These two factors have relegated to the background the news on the preparations for vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus in several countries, including the United States and Canada.

The markets are also waiting for the conclusions of the European Council held in Brussels, in the hope of unblocking the Union's recovery plan issue, or even progress on trade negotiations with Great Britain, extended until Sunday

WALL STREET IS STILL WAITING FOR A STIMULUS PACKAGE

Wall Street, which has set records in recent weeks, ended in chaos on Thursday awaiting tangible progress towards a new fiscal stimulus package in the United States in the face of a continuing crisis illustrated by the rise in unemployment registrations last week, to 853,000.

This is their highest level in almost three months amid the continuing acceleration of the epidemic due to the novel coronavirus in the United States, which for the first time recorded more than 3,000 deaths in a single day on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's mention of progress in discussions on a new stimulus package moderated the impact of the sharper-than-expected rise in unemployment registrations in the United States to the highest level in nearly three months.

As a result, the Dow Jones lost 0.23% to 29,999.26 points. The Nasdaq fell 0.54% and the S&P-500 fell 0.13%

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Other financial market news

The euro moved up after the announcement of the ECB's decisions, disappointing for currency traders who had bet on a greater increase in monetary support. Sterling remains on a downward trend, still penalized by the risk of a failure of the negotiations between London and Brussels.

• Petroleum

On the oil market, optimism about vaccines overwhelmingly prevails, at least temporarily masking fears of an imbalance between supply and demand, which were fuelled on Wednesday by the announcement of a surge in crude stocks in the United States.

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CHART OF THE DAY —USD/CHF: THE DOLLAR IS INCREASING ITS LOSSES

The US dollar is struggling and is unable to rebound against the Swiss franc. Macroeconomic data continues to weigh on the greenback, with the pair plunging to its lowest level since January 2015

Graphically, the market has just set its support to 0.88990, sellers may hit the nail on the head to find the theoretical objective of exiting the range (in yellow) at 0.8815. There is no reason for a bullish recovery in the current context. As a result, we therefore estimate that USD/CHF should continue to plunge towards 0.8773 and then 0.8700 in