With the US markets off for Thanksgiving there wasn’t really anything new to talk about this afternoon.
The stark contrast between the respective UK and eurozone economies – today highlighted by the fairly miserable 0.4% Q3 GDP of the former, and the 6 and a half year high Markit composite PMI of the latter – continued to weigh on the pound this Thursday, with sterling sliding 0.3% against the euro. The currency did a tad better against the dollar; cable is down just 0.1%, meaning it has kept most of the $1.33-crossing growth it managed in the aftermath of last night’s Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
Centrica and Mothercare bleed out
The FTSE, meanwhile, nudged 0.1% higher to 7420, leaving it on track for its best closing price in 10 days. This was despite the Centrica (LON:CNA) disaster, with the British Gas owner unable to shake its 15% plunge after issuing a profit warning earlier in the day.
The energy supplier wasn’t the only UK stock to suffer this Thursday. In what was an already awful 2017, Mothercare (LON:MTC) has shed another 18%, falling through 70p to hit a 14 year nadir following its half year results. The company was already struggling before the UK’s recent bout of retail woe, meaning a jump in interim pre-tax losses from £800,000 to £16.8 million year-on-year is sort of simultaneously really shocking and really not.
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