The markets have tax bill fever this Monday, with the European indices jumped on the goodwill generated by the latest events in the US.
Thanks to the Senate passing the Republican tax bill – which includes a huge cut to the amount paid by corporations – with 51 votes to 49, the Dow Jones futures are already eyeing a 200 point jump when the bell rings on Wall Street this afternoon. With all this on the horizon the European indices decided to get in on the action early; the FTSE rose 55 points to put some more distance between it and last Friday’s lows, while the CAC and DAX surged 0.7% and 1.1% respectively.
Part of that growth stems from the fact the dollar is in a very good mood, taking 0.2% off the pound and 0.3% off the euro. Granted, that doesn’t really help out the greenback too much in the grand scheme of things, with the currency still coming off a rather grisly November against both of its rivals. However it was enough to give an extra boost to the European indices.
In more local news, UK investors will be hoping that the last construction PMI matches last Friday’s 4 year high manufacturing reading. And while analysts are expecting anything quite as explosive as that figure, the construction number is forecast to climb from 50.8 to 51.2 month-on-month.
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