Expectations of a UK autumn general election have been raised another notch, as Chancellor Sajid Javid delayed the public spending review, telling officials to prepare for Brexit on October 31. No date has been given for the autumn budget either, when Javid will have to set out how he will fund PM Boris Johnson’s spending promises.
The FTSE opened in a positive mood but was soon down, dragged by financials, including Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS), Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and Standard Life (LON:SLA) Aberdeen. The standout performer is WPP (LON:WPP), which surged 7.19% on news of its second quarter performance.
Renewed political turmoil
European shares opened positively, but soon fell on news of Italy’s Deputy PM Matteo Salvini calling for a general election, raising fears about how renewed political turmoil may affect EU policy making in Brussels.
Talk of deflation has surfaced in China, as factory gate prices fell for the first time in three years, despite yesterday’s strong trade data, while the Japanese economy booked a third straight quarter of GDP expansion. US markets recouped most of their losses of this week, on the back of better-than-expected trade data from China. The Dow Jones gained 1.4%, the S&P 500 1.9% and the Nasdaq 2.2%.
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