As tends to be the case when the US is out of action, Europe puttered through a session largely free of incident.
Ignoring the fact the Japanese economy contracted by 1.6% in the fourth quarter – that’s BEFORE feeling the effects of any coronavirus impact – the markets pushed gently forward.
The FTSE added 0.3%, keeping it the right side of 7400, while the DAX spent the day lurking near, if not quite at, a fresh all-time high as it rose 0.2%. The CAC added the same amount, unable to breach 6100.
As for the pound, ahead of a busy week for UK data – more on that in a moment – it fell 0.2% against the dollar and 0.1% against the euro.
The currency is in for a bit of a work out across the next few sessions. Tuesday is expected to see a slight drop in UK wage growth, from 3.2% to 3.1% including bonuses, but with a sharp increase in inflation from 1.3% to 1.7% on Wednesday. Thursday is then forecast to see a big retail sales swing from -0.6% to 0.7%, though those estimates tend to be off base. And all of this before the FTSE-interesting flash PMIs on Friday.
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