It was another ugly afternoon for the markets, while the pound managed to produce some notable gains despite a hostile reception for Boris Johnson’s border solution.
The Dow Jones lost another 300 points as the bell rang on Wall Street, the index’s economic fears failing to be soothed by a worse than forecast ISM services PMI. That drop means the Dow has lost more than 1000 points since October began – remember, the month is barely 3 days old – and is now at its worst price in around 5 and a half weeks.
The DAX and CAC were similarly troubled. The German index lost another 1%, taking it under 11850, while its French cousin fell below 5400 after shedding more than half a percent.
Like on Wednesday, the FTSE was the most ailing index. Losing 110 points, it now is struggling to cling on above 7000, a level it last breached, however briefly, at the end of August. That FTSE’s Thursday has been (slightly) worse than its peers is because of the pound’s arguably inexplicable gains.
Ignoring the EU’s claim that Boris Johnson’s border solution is ‘not even remotely acceptable’, sterling found a way to benefit from the dollar and euro’s own ills. Cable shot up 0.8%, sporadically crossing $1.24 in the process, while against the single currency the pound added half a percent to sit at €1.1285.
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