After the Dow Jones lost its way last night, the European indices shed some of the strong gains posted on Tuesday.
The FTSE was the biggest loser, dropping half a percent, shrinking back below 6,750.
That would suggest that the pound took the benefits of a better than forecast final Q4 GDP reading, one that saw the UK’s growth revised from 1.0% to 1.3% for the closing 3-months of 2020.
The DAX, which last night closed above 15,000 for the first time in its history, was struggling to hold onto that level as it fell 0.2%, while the CAC was at 6,080 after dropping by the same amount.
As for the Dow Jones, it is heading for a 0.1%, or 30 point, decline this afternoon, following a 100-point drop yesterday evening. That would still leave it on track to close the month above 33,000, however, after starting March at 31,124.
Drawing focus from the global markets was Deliveroo’s disastrous debut. From an initial public offering of £3.90, the food delivery app opened at £3.31, before swiftly falling as low as £2.71.
Deliveroo has been able to grow to the point of launching on the stock market in part thanks to the exploitation of its workers. Now, said exploitation is one of the main reasons behind its sour start to life as a public company, with multiple leading fund managers expressing concern over its labour practices.
It is maybe a case of a perfectly zeitgeisty company in one sense – Deliveroo is a primary pandemic beneficiary – coming of age in the wrong moment, i.e. in the era of ostensible environmental, social and corporate governance.
And before asset managers start feeling too angelic, the fact Deliveroo is yet to make a profit, even with the help of the pandemic, is likely also a cause for concern.
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