The rest of the week’s economic calendar is pretty stacked, with UK inflation, wage growth and retail sales readings joined by the latest GDP data from China and a potentially crucial EU summit across Thursday and Friday. And while comparatively today isn’t quite as exciting from a data perspective, there are a series of macro-items to make up for that lack.
First and foremost, there’s Brexit. Ahead of the week’s EU summit Theresa May is reportedly set to host a private dinner for her, Brexit secretary David Davis, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in order to help break the ‘disturbing deadlock’ between the two sides and, in turn, help nudge the EU towards green-lighting trade talks at the end of the week.
This news seems to have helped buoy the pound, which is keeping above $1.33 against the dollar, while surging to a fresh 2 week peak against the euro with a 0.3% rise. The FTSE, predictably, has dipped in the aftermath of this move, slipping below 7550 with a 15 point fall.
The FTSE’s dip comes despite Brent Crude’s 1.5% rise, a move that has taken the black stuff above $58 per barrel for the first time since the end of September. That’s because investors are assessing the potential impact of the Iraqi national army seizing parts of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk following the Kurdish vote for independence last month.
Elsewhere eurozone investors will be watching Spain and Austria carefully. The former for any news on developments between Madrid and Catalonia; the latter for the results of its general election, where the 31-year old Sebastian Kurz, who heads up the right wing People’s Party, is set to become the world’s youngest national leader. The region’s indices have gotten off to a pretty mixed start; the DAX is flat just above 13000, while the IBEX has plunged 1% as it frets over the Catalan situation.
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