The European markets couldn’t shake the macro-malaise that set in on Tuesday, drifting lower as investors traded in the shadow of Wednesday evening’s likely rate-hiking Fed meeting.
The FTSE fell 30 points after the bell, sending the index back below 7700. A second day of losses for BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) contributed to its decline, as did the smattering of red in the mining sector.
Also not helping the FTSE was Just Eat’s 7% plunge. The fast food service has been shaken by reports that Deliveroo intends to add another 5000 UK restaurants by the end of the year, while allowing said restaurants to keep their own drivers if they so wish. It’s a model used by Just Eat (LON:JE), and means Deliveroo’s army of mopeds is potentially set to mount a significant challenge to the FTSE 100 firm’s grip on the food delivery sector.
As for sterling, the currency slipped by 0.2% against both the dollar and the euro ahead of May’s inflation reading. Analysts are expecting the figure to remain unchanged at 2.4%, with the core number similarly stagnant at 2.1%. That’s hardly a hawkish forecast, and would arguably be the latest bit of data to delay any Bank of England rate hike.
Over in the eurozone the DAX fell by 50 points, sending the German index under 12800 having recrossed that key level on Monday. Things were less negative elsewhere, with the CAC flat at 5450 and the FTSE MIB actually up 0.2%.
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