After a slow start to the week on Monday, the European markets seemed more willing to move forwards this Tuesday.
The FTSE was one of the stronger indices, climbing half a percent to sit a fraction short of 7,075. The FTSE 250 was right there alongside its blue-chip brother, its own 0.5% increase leaving it just shy of 22,400. Even the pound was feeling perky, if only against the dollar, with cable up 0.4% and the right side of $1.42.
All of this comes after a broadly positive jobs report, one that saw the unemployment rate for the 3-months to the end of March unexpectedly drop from 4.9% to 4.8%. For reference, the unemployment rate pre-pandemic was around 3.8-4.0%, with the furlough scheme meaning it has since peaked at just 5.1%.
In more recent news, the number of jobless claims in April shrank by 15,100, compared to the addition of 25,600 forecast, in another sign of a strengthening labour market.
The one outlier on Tuesday was the 3-month average earnings index, which slumped from 4.5% to 4.0% month-on-month.
Elsewhere the Eurozone indices were just as positive. The DAX rose 0.4% to strike 15,465, while the CAC was up half a percent and a mere 4 or so points adrift of 6,400.
The US open is set to keep the good times coming this afternoon. And even though the Dow Jones is looking at a behind the pace 0.3% increase, that translates to a 100-point rise, and would lift the index back past 34,430. It would only take one giddy spurt of optimistic sentiment, then, to get the Dow back to its 35,000-crossing all-time highs.
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