The European markets once again started the session on the back foot, returning a chunk of yesterday’s Huawei-ignoring rebound.
The FTSE, which had struck 7350 for the first time in close to a fortnight on Thursday, tumbled 0.2%, while the DAX dropped half a percent and the CAC slipped 10 or so points. This, honestly, is one of the week’s more reasonable movements, the markets lacking any real impetus to carry over yesterday’s gains. That could all change, however, as the session goes on; things have been turning on a dime all week.
Though it avoided a serious lurch lower after the open, the persistence of sterling’s losses has left the currency in bad shape. The fact Theresa May is set to outline her exit date after the Withdrawal Agreement Bill vote at the start of June means that:
- Cross-party talks are now almost completely dead
- The UK could be facing a hard-liner Brexit Prime Minister, especially if the European Elections go as expected next week.
The general sense of hopelessness puts cable under $1.279 and at its worst price in almost 4 months, while against the euro it struck another 3-month nadir the wrong side of €1.144.
After a terrible first half of May, easyJet (LON:EZJ) managed to climb back past £10 on Friday, as investors reacted well to a rough set of interim results. Pre-tax losses widened to £275 million as a higher fuel bill pushed up the cost per seat; however, it kept its forecasts for the full year unchanged, a fact likely responsible for the stock’s 4.5% rise.
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