Thursday’s a big day. Not only will it see EU leaders discuss whether to ban vaccine exports, it could further set the tone of the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the bloc.
Since the summit is set to continue into Friday, and may produce no firm answer given the reservations officials reportedly have over decision-making done via virtual meetings, the markets could be left wanting.
However, any hint as to which direction the EU will swing could have an outsized impact on the UK markets especially.
In anticipation of the summit, the markets were erring on the side of caution, reluctant to move too much after the bell.
The FTSE, down 0.2%, found itself desperately trying to cling on above 6,700. The DAX, meanwhile, fell by the same amount, as did the CAC, knocking the German and French indices below 14,600 and 5,930 respectively.
Somewhat removed from the intricacies of European squabbling, the Dow Jones is eyeing a 100-point increase this afternoon, one that would lift it back above 32,500.
In terms of data, alongside the usual Thursday jobless claims – which are expected to fall back to 727,000 from last week’s 770,000 – the only other number of note is the final Q4 GDP reading. And even then, that is expected to hold at 4.1% (at the annualised rate).
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