It was a rare recent session where the direction of trading wasn’t somewhat uniform, with a mixed picture across the UK, Eurozone and US.
Reversing the gains it inexplicably made on Wednesday, a fresh record-high daily covid-19 case figure – hitting a new landmark of 62,000, with the total number now well above 3 million – helped send the Dow Jones 170 points lower after the bell.
This despite a better than forecast weekly jobless claims reading, which came in at 1.314 against the 1.375 expected and last Thursday’s 1.413 million. That might be the lowest figure since March 19th, but it is still far, far, FAR above anything seen in the pre-coronavirus era.
In stark contrast to the Dow was the DAX, which shot up by 150 points. Nearing 12650, the German index benefited from a bounce in the country’s trade situation. Imports rose by 3.5% while exports jumped 9%; both numbers were well off what analysts were looking for, but still marked a significant improvement on the month prior.
As for the FTSE, the negative start from the US, another wave of job cuts by high profile retailers like Boots and John Lewis, and further gains from the pound left the index down 0.8%, desperately clinging on to 6100.
Sterling's growth, which saw it rise 0.1% against the dollar and 0.3% against the euro, came in the face of the EU’s claim that ‘significant divergences’ remain in the Brexit talks.
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