Equity markets in Europe are still enjoying a positive run as the feel good factor from the US last night was replicated in Asia, and that has now spilled over to this part of the world. It appears the clean-up cost of Irma will be well below what the markets were pencilling in, and that propelled the S&P 500 to a record close last night.
Also playing into the bullish sentiment is the lack of new negative news in relation to North Korea. The country marked the founding of the state over the weekend, and it passed without any display of military might. Investors were on tenterhooks at the end of last week because they were half expecting a missile testing from the regime.
The volatility index (VIX), which is often referred to as the ‘fear index’ sold-off heavily yesterday, which sums up the feeling in the equity markets at the moment.
Ashtead (LON:AHT) shares are up 6.1% at the moment after the company posted a 28.5% jump in first-quarter profits. The equipment hire company derives the majority if its revenue from the US, and it stated it is too early to predict how the adverse weather in the US will impact their business. The share price hit a record-high this morning, so investors are clearly bullish on the stock.
The GBP/USD was jolted higher by the jump in UK inflation to 2.9% from 2.6%. The pound is eyeing the August high of $1.3267.
We are expecting the Dow Jones to open 40 points higher at 22,097, and we are calling the S&P 500 up 2 points at 2490.
At 3pm, the US will announce the job openings and labour turnover summary (JOLTS), the consensus is for a reading of 5.96 million, and that compares with the previous reading of 6.16 million.
Be mindful, of the spike in US jobless claims that we saw last week on account of tropical of storm Harvey.
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