Following yesterday’s late tumble the European markets are struggling to pick themselves up this morning.
As it did on Thursday, when Daimler’s muted forecasts for 2018 dragged it lower, the DAX is setting the tone this Friday. The German index dropped more than half a percent after the bell, leaving it below 12900 for the first time in a month following a disappointing fourth quarter report from Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn). The firm revealed a pre-tax loss of €1.3 billion, a huge improvement on this time last year but worse than the most pessimistic analyst forecasts, news that sent the stock nearly 5.5% lower.
With the CAC and IBEX following the DAX’s lead, dropping 0.5% apiece, the FTSE ended up being the session’s best performer – and even then the index slipped 0.1% to hit 5475, its worst price for 7 weeks. The FTSE would have joined its eurozone peers deeper in the red if it wasn’t for the pound’s slow start, with sterling dipping 0.1% against the dollar and 0.2% against the euro. Still to come is the latest UK construction PMI, with an estimated slip from 52.2 to 52.0 unlikely to help either index or currency.
The biggest story this Friday didn’t belong to the traditional markets, however, but Bitcoin. Opening Monday at $11700 – remember at its 2017 it hit $20000 – it is now struggling to keep its head above $8400, following a week that dealt blow after blow to the cryptocurrency. First there was the introduction of new regulations on anonymous trading accounts in South Korea, one of Bitcoin’s biggest markets, followed by reports that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) would be banning cryptocurrency adverts on its site. Now comes the news that Bitcoin’s pre-Christmas rise is being investigated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission for market manipulation, closing out a horrible few days for the previously ascendant product.
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