With too many open-ended issues clouding the trading landscape, the Western markets stood little chance of shaking Wednesday’s losses.
China vs USA , Trump vs Kim Jong-un, Michael Cohen vs Trump, India vs Pakistan, UK vs EU, Tories vs Tories, Labour vs Labour: the long list of market-disrupting disagreements and showdowns was too much for investors, who clearly decided that things were a tad too spicy for their liking.
The Dow Jones dropped more than half a percent as trading got underway, plunging back towards 25900 as the index dealt with the additional hit of a far worse than forecast factory orders reading (which came in at 0.1% against the expected 1.5%).
The Eurozone indices were in a similar state. The CAC was down 0.5%, inching closer and closer towards 5200, while the DAX squatted under 11500 thanks to a 0.7% decline.
The worst performer was the FTSE. Not only dealing with the day’s geopolitical toxicity, but the pound’s continued gains on the hopes that Brexit will be delayed – sterling was at a 7 month high against the dollar after rising 0.4%, while hit a fresh 21 month peak against the euro following a 0.5% increase – the UK index dropped 1% to sink below 7100.
That lleaves the FTSE at its worst price in over 3 weeks, setting it up for a disappointing end to a month that had started so strongly.
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