Things became really dreary as the day went on, the European and US services PMIs failing to produce the same kind of reaction as Monday’s manufacturing readings.
In the US, the dollar couldn’t find much joy in September’s Markit and ISM services figures despite both outperforming expectations. The latter, especially, impressed, coming in at a super-charged, 12 year peak of 59.8 – far greater than August’s 55.3, or the forecast 55.5.
Yet the greenback still fell 0.2% against the pound and sat flat against the euro, investors less interested in the services data than they are this evening’s speech from Janet Yellen and Friday’s (potentially hurricane hit) non-farm jobs report. As for the Dow Jones, the index nudged 10 or so points higher after the bell, putting it in all-time record territory without quite setting off the celebratory fireworks.
Elsewhere the UK had a similarly stagnant afternoon. Sterling’s meagre growth against the dollar was joined by a 0.1% rise against the euro, the pound relieved by the better than forecast UK services PMI while still maintaining some concerns about the state of new business growth. The currency’s gains were also mitigated by a rather dovish comment from Standard & Poor’s, in which S&P claimed it was ‘sceptical’ about how justified a Bank of England rate hike would be in the near future.
While the Dow Jones and DAX flirted with all-time highs, the FTSE had to make do with a 7 week peak of around 7470. Any hopes of the UK index finding some 7500-crossing momentum this Wednesday were dashed when a) Tesco’s post-interim results gains turned negative, and b) Theresa May announced an energy cap in her Tory conference address, news that immediately sent Centrica (LON:CNA) and SSE (LON:SSE) plunging 6.2% and 3% respectively.
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