As the pound hopes for confirmation of earlier reports that Boris Johnson will extend Brexit negotiations beyond Thursday’s ‘deadline’, the European indices aggressively rebounded following yesterday’s lockdown-led losses.
Rallying 1.4%, the FTSE managed to heft itself back across 5900 as the session got underway, erasing the reduced decline it eventually saw at the end of Thursday’s trading.
The CAC was in a similar position, jumping 1.7% to get itself back above 4900. The DAX wasn’t quite as energetic, however, with a 0.7% increase barely taking the edge off of the slump it suffered on Thursday.
What may give European investors pause is that the US futures currently have the Dow Jones dipping 0.1% after the bell – the kind of meagre open that could sap energy from the continent as the day goes on.
Before Wall Street opens up, there are the latest retail sales readings, which could change the Dow’s complexion dependent on how they fare. The headline figure is set to rise from 0.6% to 0.7%, but with the core reading falling from 0.7% to 0.4%.
In terms of the pound, after slipping at the open, the currency managed to rise 0.2% against the dollar while returning to a state of flatness against the euro, following comments from Dominic Raab stating ‘we are close’ on a Brexit deal.
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