Ahead of what is looking like a strong US open, the European markets struggled to tap into quite the same level of US-China tariff-delay celebrations seen in Asia overnight.
Dealing with some serious losses for Persimmon (LON:PSN), Bunzl (LON:BNZL) and Pearson (LON:PSON), the FTSE could only just squeak out a 0.1% increase as the day went on, one that left it short of the 7200 mark it has had such trouble staying beyond in the second half of February.
As for the pound, it gave back a chunk of its early growth against the dollar, with cable clinging onto a 0.1% rise, while slipping the same amount against the euro.
The Eurozone indices were slightly more positive than their UK counterpart. Both the DAX and CAC climbed 0.3%, lifting the German bourse above 11500 for the first time in 3 and a half months, while allowing its French cousin to graze 5240.
Looking to this afternoon, and the Dow Jones is aiming for an 150 point surge when the bell rings on Wall Street, the relief that the US and China are no longer operating on a hard deadline for their trade talks set to propel the index to its own 3 and a half month peak of 26170.
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