The FTSE got off to a slow start on Tuesday, the index still waiting for the week’s earnings-melee to kick in, while the eurozone indices rose ahead of the month’s flash manufacturing and services PMIs.
The UK index at best eked out a 10 point rise as the session got underway, keeping it trapped within the 7650 to 7700 bracket that has been so magnetic in the last week of trading. There doesn’t look like there’s much on the agenda to help the FTSE with its momentum-problem, unless, perhaps, the pound suffers in the aftermath of the day’s US and Eurozone PMIs.
Speaking of sterling, it was equally sluggish this Tuesday. Against the dollar it sat flat a smidge above $1.31, while against the euro it rose 0.1%, a meagre climb that nevertheless actually left the pound at a 5 day high against its single currency rival.
The eurozone was feeling buoyant after the bell. The DAX and CAC both rose around 0.4%, sending them back towards 12600 and 5400 respectively. Those gains may shrink if the euro gets a boost from the morning’s PMI readings; the region-wide manufacturing figure is set to slip from 54.9 to 54.7, with the services number expected to fall from 55.2 to 55.0.
With an already dreamy 2018 chart, Fevertree (LON:FEVR) found the perfect tonic to extend its record high-hitting rise on Tuesday, the AIM superstar shooting up 8% as it won over its tough-to-please investors. The three headline half year metrics all underwent the kind of blockbuster growth the markets have come to expect: revenue surged 45% to £104.2 million, while adjusted earnings jumped 35% to £34 million and the interim dividend rose 40% to 4.22p per share.
Importantly, CEO Tim Warrillow claimed that its full year performance would be ‘comfortably ahead’ of expectations, an upgrade on the previously investors-disappointing stance taken in Fevertree’s last couple of statements.
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