Having withstood a disappointing UK wage growth reading, the pound wilted as Tuesday went on as a flare-up of Brexititus took its toll.
With Theresa May potentially facing a Commons defeat this evening, the latest embarrassment for a Prime Minister whose tenure is chock-a-block with them, sterling had a fairly notable wobble in an otherwise quiet day. Against the dollar the pound fell 0.4%, dropping back below $1.318 having climbed above $1.325 around lunchtime; against the euro, meanwhile, it shed 0.3% to duck under €1.13.
This helped the FTSE, which had been struggling with its commodity stocks, claw back some of Monday’s heavy losses, the index re-crossing 7600 with a 20 point increase. The FTSE also benefited from Brent Crude erasing much of its own losses – well, Tuesday’s at least – with the black stuff just about nudging above $72 per barrel.
As for the Dow Jones, the US index fell 50 points after the bell, taking it back towards 25000. Since reaching that 2 month high the Dow has struggled to extend its recovery, the lingering trade war fears perhaps acting as a capper to its first half of July rebound.
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