Whatever flaccid growth the markets managed on Tuesday was largely lost after the bell, the ongoing trade war concerns continuing to weigh on investors’ minds.
The FTSE limited its losses to around 20 or so points, the gains seen by BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa), alongside the reporting Whitbread (LON:WTB), helping prevent the UK index from posting anything more troublesome.
The pound, meanwhile, slipped 0.1% against the dollar, slumping back towards $1.322, and 0.2% against the euro, where it’s returned to a near 2 week low.
Sterling may well be the focus on Wednesday morning, with the calendar-highlight the Bank of England’s financial stability report, complete with appearance from Mark Carney. Though there’s going to be a lot of talk about the expenses scandal that broke on Tuesday, investors will be more interested in any comments around the impact of a trade war, the UK’s inflation and wage growth situation, and, most importantly, August’s MPC meeting and potential rate hike.
Over in the eurozone the region’s indices remained in a pretty nasty run of form. The DAX, which yesterday strained to hold above 12300, plunged another 0.8%, hitting a near 12 week nadir in the process, while the CAC lost half a percent and the IBEX 35 slipped 0.9%.
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