Following a notable drop yesterday, there has been further weakness in the FTSE 100 today with the benchmark off by a further 20 points and the market is currently retesting the October low. The pound is little changed on the day with the first UK data since the BOE hike failing to see a sustained move.
Manufacturing and industrial production both rise
The latest data on the UK economy has been slightly positive on the whole, although a sharp drop in construction output is a concern. Both the manufacturing and industrial production figures for September have beaten forecasts and shown significant increases on the prior readings. However, a 1.6% drop in construction output for the same period takes the shine off the batch of data and an initial attempt to move higher in the pound ran into some resistance.
Bitcoin drops below $7000
The price of Bitcoin has fallen below the $7000 level this morning following a quick swoon that shows traders and investors are becomingly increasingly skittish about the market following the suspension earlier this week of a much needed software upgrade. News that the SEGWIT2X upgrade had been suspended on Wednesday saw a stunning intra-day reversal of around 10% and the market is now looking increasingly susceptible to further declines. There is a clear rotation underway from Bitcoin, the clear market leader, into other alt-coins with several of these enjoying strong gains in recent days. This is most notable in Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold, with both these spun-off cryptos surging by more than a third on the day as money is coming out of the original and into these markets that were created after recent forks. The ability of Bitcoin for transferring funds or carrying out transactions - the purpose for which it was designed, which is often forgotten - remain notably poorer than many of its rivals, and there is a clear rotation beginning here from Bitcoin into other markets with more desirable characteristics.
Burberry falling out of fashion
As far as individual stocks on the FTSE are concerned Burberry is having another day to forget for investors with the fashion retailer falling more than 3% and dropping back below the 1800 level. The proposed strategic shift upmarket that was revealed before Thursday’s open has clearly left investors unimpressed.