A quiet start soon turned negative this Tuesday, investors struggling to find a reason to keep the European markets out of the red.
Despite all the excitement around Comcast's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) surprise bid for Sky (LON:SKYB), one that has sent the stock 18% higher and started speculation that Disney (NYSE:DIS) could pull out its sizeable wallet and get involved, along a 10% surge from Persimmon (LON:PSN) off the back of some impressive pre-tax profit growth, the FTSE fell 0.4% as the day went on. That took the UK index back away from 7300, its latest failed attempt at substantially breaking beyond that key level. It didn’t even have the excuse of a charged up sterling, with the pound flat against the dollar the wrong side of $1.40 and down 0.1% against the euro.
The situation was much the same over in the eurozone. The DAX fell back below 12500 after tumbling 0.7%, undoing the 12600-cross 3 week high-hitting rebound of the last few sessions, while the CAC dipped 0.3%.
Turning to this afternoon and the Dow Jones is keeping its cards close to its chest, the futures suggesting the index will open flat at 25700, just off its best price since February 2nd. The Dow’s reticence is likely related to the impending testimony from new Fed chair Jerome Powell; investors will be on the lookout for any further clarity regarding Powell’s own rate hike opinions, alongside an idea of how hawkish his version of the central bank will be.
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