It looks like it’s going to be an uncomfortable end to the week, with the European markets covered in ketchup as Friday got underway.
The biggest news, as it has been all August, is the pound’s continued collapse. Sterling plunged another half a percent against the dollar, forcing cable below $1.28 for the first time in almost a year. That the pound managed to nudge 0.2% higher against the euro, alongside the single currency’s own 0.7% slide against the greenback, suggests Friday’s fall is a tad more informed by trade war-fearing investors pouring into the safe-haven dollar than the week’s ‘no deal’ Brexit concerns (though that undoubtedly isn’t helping).
Sterling’s struggles have often this month allowed the FTSE to post gains in the face of losses elsewhere. Not so today, with the UK index diving back under 7700 after falling 0.6%, a drop only a bit better than the 0.8% slides seen by both the DAX and CAC.
Today was meant to be all about the UK’s GDP readings, though given the state of trading it might be hard for the data to make much of a dent. Nevertheless, the monthly number is forecast to slip from 0.3% to 0.2%, while, more importantly, the second quarter figure is set to double the growth seen in Q1, with expectations of 0.4%.
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