President Mubarak Resigns and Calms Tensions; Mixed Economic Data Released from Japan and China

European equities are being lifted on Monday after the positive Asian session. Regional stocks rose on the surprising GDP from Japan, which showed that the country's economy contracted less than expected. This helped risk sentiment and was taken in combination with the resignation of Egyptian President Mubarak on Friday as a reason to push stocks higher. U.K. equity futures following this trend (after the Hang Seng index rose 1.3 percent.) To start the week, markets really did not have much information to work off of, so we can reasonably assume that the main driver was the Mubarak resignation on Friday. This will help erase some uncertainty in the Middle Eastern region, so traders can start to assume that violent conflicts will not negatively affect trade in the area. The macro data was mixed on the whole, with stronger numbers in Japan's GDP data, taken alongside the Chinese trade balance report, which showed a trade surplus that was smaller than anticipated. The trade surplus came in at 6.5 billion U.S. Dollars during the month of January. The fact that the country is still maintaining a trade surplus and the positive surprise from Japan turned the balance of the macro data positive. But it should be remembered that even with Mubarak's resignation, political certainty is still not guaranteed and periods of transition are generally not view favorably by markets. China's trade surplus for the month is lending support for the argument that the global economy is still managing to move forward despite negative global events. Imports and exports both showed increases on a yearly basis but the main question for the country at this stage is whether or not inflation will force the PBoC to raise interest rates further. Read the full post at Spread Betting, where you can also find free guides to technical analysis, financial news, and reviews of spread betting companies such as ig index.