The FTSE 100 is the worst performer in Europe thanks to the strong pound again. The British market started off in the red today because of the more hawkish than expected update from the Bank of England (BoE) yesterday, and the speech from Gertjan Vlieghe, a short time ago, accelerated the move. Mr Vlieghe also hinted at a tighter monetary policy, which pushed the pound higher, and drove the FTSE 100 lower.
The FTSE 100 has dropped to its lowest level in over four months, and it is also trading below its 200-day moving average – which is widely viewed as bearish.
North Korea fired a missile over Japan but, it failed to rattle investors. It is just a reminder that the situation is far from over.
Continental equity indices like the DAX and CAC 40 are largely unchanged on the day as the ever so slightly negative move that we saw on Wednesday is still in place.
JD Weatherspoons (LON:JDW) announced a 27% jump in profit-before-tax for the 53 weeks until early July. The company has had a positive start to this trading year and they expect to achieve their full-year target. The stock gapped higher and went on to hit a record high in early trading, so the momentum is clearly with the bulls.
The GBP/USD is trading at a 15-month high after Gertjan Vlieghe of the BoE stated a rate hike may be appropriate in the ‘coming months’. This comes on the back of a more hawkish than anticipated BoE update yesterday.
We are expecting the Dow Jones to open 7 points higher at 22,210, and we are calling the S&P 500 down 1 point at 2494.
At 1.30pm, the US will announce the latest retail sales and core retail sales data, and the consensus is for a reading of 0.1% and 0.5% respectively. At the same time, the New York Fed empire state manufacturing survey will be released, and the consensus is for a reading of 19, down from 25.2 in August.
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