By Connor Campbell, Financial Analyst at Spreadex
A slightly better than expected US second quarter GDP reading failed to help either the dollar or the Dow Jones this Friday.
Coming in at an annualised rate of 2.6% against the measly 1.4% managed in Q1, the growth figure was a tad higher than the 2.5% forecast. Yet the dollar actually lost ground once the figure was released, shedding half a percent against the euro – which is now just below $1.175 – and 0.2% against the pound. As for the Dow Jones, the index slipped 35 points after the bell; it’s still above 21750, however, so won’t be too perturbed by this end of the week dip.
The euro’s gains continued to cause headaches for the eurozone indices. The DAX is down 0.3% to 12160 – an improvement on its midday sub-12100 lows, but still its worst price in 3 months – while the CAC completely lost its head, plunging 1.2% despite the announcement of France’s robust 0.5% Q2 growth this morning.
With all the banks, including Barclays (LON:BARC), seeing red, and BT Group (LON:BT) still down nearly 2%, the FTSE couldn’t find a way to reduce its losses this Friday. Instead the UK index fell 50 points, dragging it back under 7400 but, admittedly, holding a bit higher than the worst excesses of Monday’s plunge.
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