FTSE 100, IBEX 35, DAX, CAC 40 all down; bloodbath continues

Today's trading session has ended on negative tone for European indexes as the FTSE 100 trading at 7118.48, down -0.92% on the day, having posted a daily high at 7184.70 and low at 7105.67. Later the IBEX 35 trading at 9361.30, down -1.50% having posted a daily high at 9472.80 and low at 9349.10, then the DAX trading at 1161.89, down -1.12% having posted a daily high at 11792.33 and low at 11659.35, and finally the CAC 40 trading at 4784.64, down -1.14% on the day, having posted a daily high at 4830.69 and low at 4771.98.

Europe's stocks better bet in 2017; Goldman Sachs
Bloomberg reports, "European equities will catch up to their U.S. peers once the uncertainty surrounding near-term elections is lifted, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index will return 8 percent including dividends by end-2017, boosted by a weak euro, strong global growth and recovered oil prices, according to Christian Mueller-Glissmann, managing director of portfolio strategy and asset allocation at Goldman Sachs in London. The S&P 500 Index will return 4 percent, Goldman predicts, as optimism about economic growth in the U.S. fades and mutes the stock rally. The return forecasts are in local currencies."

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The report continues, "Banks are among Goldman’s preferred sectors in Europe this year, as they benefit from a steeper yield curve. Investors can buy bank stocks to hedge their portfolios’ sensitivity to higher rates, Mueller-Glissmann said. Other strategists have warned the link between banks and bond yields will eventually fade."

German Inflation Advances
Kristian Rouz, writer at Sputnik News, notes, "Germany drove the improvement in Eurozone’s economic confidence in January 2017, which might further complicate Berlin’s already¬-tense relations with the nations of Southern Europe, mainly due to their different economic outlook and view of monetary policies. Economic confidence in the common currency area hit its highest point since early 2011 in January, a report from the European Commission said on Monday, despite concerns regarding the Italian banking sector and Greek debt."

He further writes, "Meanwhile, as economic sentiment has improved in January across the Eurozone, calls for the ECB to wrap up its stimulus package are becoming more prominent outside of Germany as well. ECB President Mario Draghi, however, said it is still premature to discuss any potential stimulus withdrawal as core inflation is still weak at below 1pc, and the economic outlook is marred, including because of the perceived trade disruptions on the British front."

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