The FTSE’s relatively calm start was abandoned on Wednesday in favour of some nasty losses.
An acceleration in oil losses – Brent Crude is now down 5.7% to $28.40 per barrel – and growing concerns over the stark recession warning given by the IMF crushed the more hopeful trading seen last week, forcing the European indices into a series of triple-digit declines.
The FTSE was down 2.1%, or 120 points, as the day went on, triple its losses at the start of the session. Now stuck the wrong side of 5700, you’d perhaps expect the index to be even lower, given the prominence of BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa), which fell 5.1% and 4.2% respectively.
However, the FTSE was aided by sterling’s own issues – the pound was down 0.9% against the dollar and 0.4% against the euro – alongside gains for Ocado (LON:OCDO), which is continuing to benefit from the lockdown.
The Eurozone indices, in contrast, were stable in their losses. All that meant, however, was that the 2%-plus declines seen by the DAX and CAC didn’t worse as lunchtime approached.
Briefly striking 24000 on Tuesday, the Dow Jones is all set to fall from its recent one month-plus highs when it opens later this afternoon. The futures are pencilling in a 330 point plunge, one that could be altered by session’s pre-open data.
America’s retail sales are expected to swing from -0.5% to -8.0% month-on-month, with the core reading down to -4.9% from -0.4%. Industrial production, meanwhile, is set to shrink from 0.6% to -4.9%.
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