By Connor Campbell, Financial Analyst, Spreadex
The FTSE suffered another sharp fall at the open, as the latest developments in the US/North Korea situation weighed on its commodity stocks.
The UK index fell another 50 or so points after the bell, taking it back 7450 to mark its worst price in a week. That’s because, despite Brent Crude pushing above $53 per barrel and copper holding at $2.90 per pound, there was a sea of red in the commodity sector. BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) were both down 1.5%, while the likes of Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and Anglo American (LON:AAL) plunged anywhere between 2% and 2.8%. Sterling didn’t do too well either, giving back 0.3% against the dollar to fall back below $1.30 while lurking at a 10 month nadir against the euro.
While it appears that Pyongyang’s detailed strike plan against Guam has created a sour backdrop to trading, it’s worth noting that US/North Korea tensions aren’t having quite the same effect on the DAX and CAC. The German index dipped just 0.2% – it is admittedly only a sneeze away from the 12100, 3 and a half month lows struck at the start of the month – while its French peer sat flat(ish) at 5135.
There is a chance the mood in the UK could improve depending on the impending manufacturing and industrial production readings. The former is set to climb from -0.2% to 0.0%, with a similar jump from -0.1% to 0.1% by the latter. Not a spectacular recovery, but a recovery nonetheless.
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