TOPICS COVERED IN THIS MARKET BRIEFING

• :European stock markets face doubts about recovery
• Wall Street up despite unemployment figures
• Chart of the day – EUR/CHF: a consolidation range

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS FACE DOUBTS ABOUT RECOVERY

European stock markets ended sharply lower on Thursday, caught up in concerns about the strength of the economic recovery after disappointing U.S. economic indicators and the day after the Federal Reserve released "minutes" whose tone surprised investors with its caution.

The decline was marked from the opening the day after the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the Fed, whose investors have mainly retained the concern expressed by several leaders of the US central bank about the fragility of the economic recovery. And the news of the day from the United States subsequently only accentuated the downward trend.

Thus, the CAC 40 index lost 1.33% to 4,911.24 points. The Footsie dropped 1.55% and the DAX 30 fell 1.14%.

WALL STREET ENDS HIGHER DESPITE UNEMPLOYMENT
Wall Street ended in the green on Thursday, with a closing record for the Nasdaq, as rising tech stocks outweighed disappointing indicators, confirming the Federal Reserve's cautious view of the economic recovery.

The indicators of the day were on their side in half-tone with in particular a rebound in weekly jobless registrations last week in the United States, which returned above the million mark.

A total of 14.8 million people were receiving unemployment benefits during the week of August 2 to 8, with data released with a week's lag.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region (northeastern United States) remained growing in August, but at a slower pace than in June and July, according to a Fed index.

The Conference Board's leading indicators index also remained up in July for the third consecutive month, by 1.4%, but also at a slower pace than in May (3.1%) and June (3%).

As a result, the Dow Jones rose 0.17% to 27,692.88 points. The Nasdaq fell 1.06% and the S&P 500 gained 0.32%.

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FOREX
The dollar is consolidating, against other major currencies, its sharp rebound of Wednesday in reaction to the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve.

The index measuring changes in the U.S. currency against a benchmark basket rose 0.08% after a gain of 0.67% the day before, one of its best daily performances in recent months.

Oil
The oil market is not immune to the general gloom, especially since according to information from Reuters, some producing countries of the informal group "OPEC +" have produced too much over the period May-July, which obliges them, in theory at least, to reduce their pumping in August and September.

Brent gave up 1.43% to $44.72 a barrel and light crude WTI1.12% to $42.45.

Economic calendar of the day:

CHART OF THE DAY – EUR/CHF: A CONSOLIDATION RANGE

For several weeks, the EUR/CHF has been moving without direction and has not managed to cross the famous resistance of 1.0840. For now, we are seeing a consolidation range between 1.0840 and 1.0735. Thus, only the breaking of one of the two terminals will set the tempo for the future, in order to position itself to accompany the Momentum to come.

However, on this weekly data chart, the long-term bearish oblique continues to put pressure on buyers. Indeed, as long as the latter is not broken at the close "Weekly", the bullish restart promises to be complicated for the pair. In addition, prices will have to cross the resistance of 1.0840 to regain height towards 1.0970 and then 1.1050.

Finally, assuming that sellers keep their hand and drive the nail under the support of 1.0735, then the risk of falling towards 1.0630 would not be to be excluded.