Despite Brent Crude teasing $74 per barrel for the first time since 2014 there was precious little movement after the bell this Thursday.
The FTSE, which got a serious lift from BP (LON:BP) and Shell’s Brent Crude-led gains on Wednesday – alongside a robust mining sector and the pound’s inflation-led slide – couldn’t use the black stuff’s latest increase to fuel any further growth. But while the UK index started the day effectively flat, it is above 7300 and at its best levels since the end of February.
As for sterling, the currency is still licking his wounds following Wednesday’s post-inflation comedown, especially against the euro, where it has slipped another 0.1% to hit a fresh one week low. Against the dollar, however, sterling is doing a tad better, nudging back across $1.42.
How both index and currency fare during the rest of the day will most likely be down to the state of March’s retail sales. Though not quite a needle-mover of the same pedigree as Tuesday’s jobs reports and Wednesday’s CPI data, the figures is nevertheless noteworthy enough to define the session’s UK trading. Admittedly March’s number is going to be somewhat complicated by the impact of the ‘Beast from the East’, meaning the severity of the forecast plunge from 0.8% to -0.5% may be written off as an anomaly.
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