The FTSE remained the one real winner on Monday morning, the UK index benefiting from its energetic mining sector and sterling’s early struggles.
Climbing 0.6%, the UK index started the week at its best level for 5 months, crossing 7275 with an eye on 7300 if the pound takes another turn southwards. Talking of sterling, the currency displayed some justified anxiety as the start of a week that is going to see it run the gauntlet, from Brexit drama to jobs, inflation and retail sales data to Fed and Bank of England intrigue. Clearly daunted by the thought of all that, the pound dropped 0.2% against the dollar and half a percent against the euro, pulling it from last week’s highs.
After a decent open the eurozone indices lost their sheen as the euro rose 0.3% against the dollar as well as 0.5% against the pound. This caused the DAX to dip 0.1%, leaving it short of 11700 despite the big gains posted by Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) following the confirmation that it is in talks with Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) about a potential merger.
As for the Dow Jones, after rising last week on the slightest sign of trade talk progress between the US and China, the index looks set to struggle to get things started this Monday, with the futures pointing to a 20 point dip when the bell rings on Wall Street.
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