Acting as a measure of market anxiety, gold smashed through the $2000 per ounce ceiling for the first time in history overnight – 4 and a half months on from the sub-$1500 lows seen before the coronavirus crisis took hold of the West.
Despite the underlying issues driving the commodity higher – be it the looming spectre of a second wave in Europe, the lack of progress on the latest covid-19 relief package in the States, or the TikTok-related tensions between the US and China – the European markets bounded out of the gates on Wednesday.
The FTSE, aided by the likes of gold-miner Fresnillo rising 4.5%, jumped 75 points, allowing the UK index to cross 6100 once again.
The DAX, meanwhile, was above 12700 following a 1.1% increase, with the CAC nearing 4950 as it climbed 1.2%.
As for the Dow Jones, a return to 27000 is on the cards for the first time in close to 2-weeks, with the futures pointing to a 165 point open.
Set to help or hinder this positive atmosphere are the final services PMIs from July. The Eurozone as a whole is looking at an unchanged 55.1, with the UK reading at 56.6. Over in the US, the Markit PMI is expected to remain in contraction territory at 49.6, with the ISM reading falling from 57.1 to 55.0 month-on-month.
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