Today stock markets continued the upside momentum from Friday, with S&P 500 and Dax heading toward new record levels once again. The US and UK were on a bank holiday weekend, but that didn’t deter stock buyers from continuing to pile in as risk sentiment turned positive, following the initial dive after the attack on Rafah.

The German stock market showed resilience on Monday, despite the lower-than-expected Ifo business climate survey results, which broke the improving trend. The DAX index closed up 0.40% in Frankfurt, indicating investors’ positive sentiment towards German equities. Despite the lack of improvement in sentiment for the German economy in May, the stock market remained buoyant.

Additionally, several European Central Bank (ECB) members signaled a consensus on a potential rate cut in June, which further supported positive sentiment in European stocks. Philip Lane, the ECB’s chief economist, hinted at the possibility of additional monetary easing after June, citing a decline in inflation as a contributing factor. Overall, the combined effect of the ECB’s dovish stance and the resilient performance of the German stock market suggests a cautious but optimistic outlook among investors. The sentiment remained positive for US stocks as well, with the S&P 500 bouncing off the 20 SMA (gray) on the H4 chart.

S&P 500 Chart H4 – The 20 SMA Held As Support

The dollar, are exhibiting limited movement, with narrow trading ranges observed across the board. Despite initial declines, USD/JPY managed to end the day unchanged, while the Kiwi and Aussie currencies saw slight gains but nothing significant. In contrast, stock markets saw some modest gains during the US and European sessions. Precious metals are attempting to recover from their poor performance last week, although trading remains cautious. Given the upcoming UK and US bank holidays, it’s unlikely that we’ll see much action in the markets today. The real trading activity is expected to resume tomorrow once the holiday period is over.