After a positive run for a couple of days, we are now seeing a decline in European equities as traders take their profits from the week’s early gains. The positive run at the beginning of the week on the back of stalling tensions surrounding North Korea, and Hurricane Irma not being as destructive as initially expected has run out of steam.
The FTSE 100 is underperforming its continental counterparts due to the strength of sterling. The pound was pushed higher yesterday by the jump in UK inflation to 2.9%, from 2.6% in July. Eurozone equity markets are only a small bit lower today, which points to a belief pullback, before potentially making another move higher.
Shares in Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) are flat today after the company posted a 9% jump in pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items, and a 7% rise in revenue. These figures are good, but they are not great when compared with other companies in the construction industry. The share price has been pushing higher since July, and if it closes the gap at 1441p (created in May), it could pave the way to a return to 1594p.
The EUR/USD is higher today, and the single currency was helped by German and Spanish CPI numbers which came in at 1.8% and 1.6% respectively.
The GBP/USD hit a fresh one-year high this morning, but then slipped slightly after UK wage data held steady, but came in below expectations.
We are expecting the Dow Jones to open 15 points lower at 22,103, and we are calling the S&P 500 down 3 points at 2493.
At 1.30pm, the US will announce the producer price index (PPI) figures for August, and the consensus is for a reading of 0.3% on a monthly basis and 2.5% on a yearly basis.
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