A construction sector slip did little for either the FTSE or pound this Wednesday morning.
Like Tuesday’s manufacturing figure, the most recent construction PMI fell short of expectations, coming in at 52.2 against the 52.8 forecast and the 53.1 seen in November. While neither of December’s PMIs have been disastrous, there’s nevertheless a slight whiff of disappointment that the robust levels seen in November couldn’t last a bit longer.
All this helped edge cable into the red, though even with a 0.2% decline the pound is still circling a 3 and a half month high against the dollar; against the euro it fared better, rising 0.1% as its rival gave back some of its recent growth (the euro’s also down 0.3% against the greenback). The FTSE, meanwhile, strained to keep the right side of the red/green divide, the index struggling to shake its sluggish start to 2018 despite the newfound – if fragile – sense of optimism in the retail sector following Next’s surprisingly solid Christmas figures.
As for the Eurozone indices, with the euro taking a breather from the vertiginous climb seen in the last few weeks the DAX and CAC attempted to right yesterday’s wrongs. Both the German and French indices rose 0.6%, allowing them to cross 12900 and 5300 respectively.
Looking to the US open and, after once again failing to mount a substantial post-24800 excursion, the Dow Jones is set to nudge 20 points higher when the bell rings on Wall Street. Whether or not the index can manage some a bit more exciting may be down to December’s ISM manufacturing PMI, which is forecast to dip from 58.2 to 58.1 month-on-month.
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