A tentative start turned resolutely negative as Tuesday went on, investors’ midterm election nerves perhaps becoming more pronounced as voting gets underway.
The FTSE remained one of the worst performing indices, tumbling more than 45 points to strike 7070. The major mining and banking stocks were in the red, with specific losses seen for the likes of Morrisons (down 5.8%), BAT (LON:BATS) (which fell 2.3%) and BT Group (LON:BT) (which slipped 1.5%).
This accelerated decline came despite the pound giving up its early growth. Cable, which had risen to $1.308, found itself down 0.1% and back below $1.304, while against the euro, sterling’s gains were trimmed to just 0.1%.
Over in the Eurozone the DAX and CAC fell 0.2% apiece, disappointed in private sector growth slowdown seen across October (though the region-wide services PMI reading did coming in ahead of forecasts at 53.7).
While its European peers languish in the red, the Dow Jones is set for a pretty placid open, the futures pointing to an unchanged start after the bell. Beyond the JOLTS job openings figure – expected to dip from 7.14 million to 7.09 million – there is little in the way of data to act as a distraction, or energiser, on Tuesday, so the markets could be in for a calm afternoon ahead of what might be a stormy Wednesday.
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