Compared to last week, Monday morning has been decidedly light on drama, leaving the market with some mild European growth and not much else.
After a strong start the FTSE retreated as the morning went on, halving its gains to just 0.3%. It looks like the UK index is going to need a significant reversal of the pound’s recent growth to lift it from its recent lows, or at the very least something more substantial than the 0.2% dip seen by sterling against both the dollar and euro. A speech from Mark Carney this afternoon could cause a flutter of movement, though given its international focus it’s unlikely to cause the kind of sterling surges seen at the tail end of last week.
Like the FTSE, the eurozone indices lost some of their shine as lunchtime approached. That’s because the euro got a boost as the region’s August inflation reading was confirmed at a 4 month high of 1.5%.
Looking to this afternoon, and while there’s no data on the cards it still could be a memorable US session. Even something as meagre as a 0.2% is enough for the Dow Jones to hit a fresh high, with the index on track to open above 22300 for the first time in its history. Given it wasn’t too long ago that it was fretting about North Korea, as well as Donald Trump’s (in)ability to deliver on his tax and infrastructure promises – issues that are still very much on the table – it’s remarkable that the Dow has risen so aggressively in the past week or so.
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