While the eurozone indices continued their stellar start to 2018, the FTSE struggled to match their New Year enthusiasm.
Now, the UK index isn’t doing poorly by any means; and unlike its German and French peers, which had plunged as 2017 came to a close, it’s hovering around all-time highs. However, the FTSE does currently lack the spark to take it across the 7700 with any kind of permanence. An initial 10 point rise did briefly lead the index above that landmark level, but it needs something more substantial to work with if it is to stay there.
As for the pound, the currency was fairly quiet in the early moments of trading, sitting flat above $1.355 against the dollar while nudging 0.1% higher against the euro. That’s likely because there are a few pieces of key data still to come this Friday. For the euro – which is also down 0.2% against the greenback – that’s the eurozone-wide inflation reading, forecast to slip from 1.5% to 1.4% month-on-month; for the dollar it’s the latest non-farm jobs report, with expectations high following yesterday’s superstar ADP numbers.
With the euro muted as it awaits those inflation figures the DAX and CAC were free to keep climbing. The former jumped another 90 points, sending it to a 2 and a half week high and marking a 3% increase since the start of the year, while the CAC is lurking just below 5450 after rising 0.4%.
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