Capping off a week that has seen investors strapped into the trade war waltzer with no way off, the Dow Jones started the session on the back foot, only to somewhat regain confidence as it settled into trading.
Down 50 or so points, the index is lurking just under 25850 and a smidge below yesterday’s one-week highs. That it is in that position despite the constant barrage of negative trade headlines is pretty remarkable – the only good bit of news it has had to go on is the confirmation the US will be delaying its auto tariffs by 6 months.
With the Dow tempering its losses, the European indices could broadly follow suit. The FTSE was steady with its 0.2% slide, while the CAC slipped 0.3%. Only the DAX really couldn’t shake its slump, dropping 0.7% to near 12000 once again.
Sort of a side plot to the more dominant trade panic has been sterling’s depression. Jeremy Corbyn’s severing of cross-party talks may have just confirmed what was long suspected, but that didn’t stop the pound from taking another tumble.
Falling 0.4% against the dollar and 0.3% against the euro, the currency spent the day striking fresh 4-month and 3-month lows respectively, extending a losing streak that is going to be tough to break given what is on the agenda in the next couple of weeks.