Though nowhere near as dire as on Wednesday, the markets remained in a bad mood on Thursday, the European indices slipping thanks to the bearish emerging markets and ongoing trade war fears.
It was more a case of trepidation than damnation after the bell, investors unwilling to do a lot with so much uncertainty swirling above their heads. The FTSE dipped 20 points, forcing it back towards 7360, a level the index hasn’t loitered at since late April.
In contrast the pound managed to hold onto Wednesday’s perhaps exaggerated gains – against the dollar, at least – following reports of a Brexit breakthrough between the UK and Germany. Against the greenback it rose 0.2%, keeping cable the right side of $1.292; against the euro, meanwhile, it had given up most of its Brexit-related gains by the end of yesterday’s session, meaning its 0.1% rise only allowed the currency to hold just above €1.11.
Over in the eurozone the situation was much the same. The CAC sat unchanged at 5260, with the DAX falling a further 35 points, leaving the German index clinging onto 12000 by the skin of its teeth.
Unlike the last few days, where there as at least been a wave of PMIs to deal with, Thursday has little in the way of distraction for the European markets, meaning investors are just going to have to sit and stew in this particularly unpleasant trading broth.
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