Following on from Tuesday’s scattershot trading, Wednesday saw the European markets get off to a hesitant, uncertain start after Australia became the latest country to flag up the sickly state of the global economy.
The FTSE, which was yesterday’s one real major winner out of the Western indices, failed to build on its early-March rebound, opening the day flat, around 20 points shy of the 7200 mark it tumbled from at the end of February.
The red tinge of its banking sector, likely due to the lack of Brexit progress in last night’s meeting between Michel Barnier, Geoffrey Cox and Stephen Barclay – something that also dragged sterling 0.2% lower against the dollar and the euro – and losses from BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) helped prevent the FTSE from carrying over Tuesday’s momentum.
Investors opted to make their own dinner after taking a look at Just Eat's (LON:JE) full year statement, the takeaway services slipping 2.5% despite some significant gains on 2017’s results. Revenue rose 43% to £779.5 million – it is aiming for £1 billion in sales in 2019 – while it swung from a pre-tax loss of £76 million to profit of £101.7 million year-on-year.
Yet with neither a substantial update on its CEO search following the abrupt departure of Peter Plumb in January, nor word on the Deliveroo merger certain shareholders are craving, investors were left unimpressed, dragging the stock from its recent 6 month highs.
"Disclaimer: Spreadex provides an execution only service and the comments above do not constitute (or should not be construed as constituting) investment advice or recommendations, or a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any person placing trades based on their interpretations of the above comments does so entirely at their own risk. Spreadex Ltd is a financial and sports spread betting and sports fixed odds betting firm, which specialises in the personal service and credit area. Founded in 1999, Spreadex is recognised as one of the longest established spread betting firms in the industry with a strong reputation for its high level of customer service and account management.
In relation to spread betting, Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. It may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved."