Not a lot really happened during Wednesday’s Independence Day-dampened trading, the lingering anxieties over the latest US-China trade war mingling with June’s services PMIs.
For the FTSE the main driver was its commodity sector, namely the mining stocks reacting to copper’s tariff-fearing 2% decline. This left the UK index down 25 or so points, a relatively negligible loss that nevertheless helped keep it from the 7600 mark.
Contributing to the FTSE’s sluggishness was the pound’s milquetoast attempt at a recovery following the day’s surprising 8 month high services PMI. Against the dollar it rose 0.2%, flirting with $1.322, while against the euro it nudged up by the same amount, leaving it just shy of €1.135.
Over in the eurozone the region’s indices flagged as an empty afternoon wore on. The DAX fell 0.4%, ducking under 12300, with the CAC also slipping 0.1%.
Tomorrow mercifully looks like it should be a bit more interesting. The return of the US markets will probably dictate trading, with the Dow Jones et al. dealing with the Markit and ISM services PMIs, the ADP non-farm reading and, most importantly, the FOMC meeting minutes from June’s rate-hiking get-together.
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