A springy start to April, one fuelled by trade hopes and a varying set of PMIs, was cut short on Thursday after the latest piece of dire data out of Germany.
January’s German factory orders reading was already pretty awful, coming in at a (revised) -2.1%; well, this time out the figure showed the markets what really bad looks like. Instead of a 0.3% increase, orders plunged 4.2% in February, the worst monthly fall for 2 years.
Oddly, the DAX wasn’t too downhearted after the bell. The German bourse slipped just 0.2%, keeping the index well above 11900. The euro was also fairly sanguine, dipping 0.2% against the pound but rising 0.1% against the dollar.
In contrast, the FTSE had a tough start to the session, falling more than half a percent to tumble under 7400 once again. Its banking stocks weren’t in a good way, with Lloyds (LON:LLOY) down 3%; the commodity sector was almost as bad, both Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and BP (LON:BP) both slipping more than 1%.
Sterling’s gains were rather mild on Thursday, adding 0.2% against both dollar and euro. This following another dramatic night in the House of Commons, with the Cooper/Letwin bill – designed to enshrine in law the avoidance of a no-deal Brexit via extension – passing by just one vote. Now the draft law will go to the House of Lords, potentially as soon as this Friday.
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