After running hog wild on Tuesday, Europe took a breather on Wednesday, slowed by the latest signs of economic distress in the Eurozone.
The FTSE, which had a stonker of a session yesterday, dipped from its 3-month highs as it fell 0.3%, but managed to stay the right side of 7150. While an inconsistent set of commodity stocks, and some losses in the banking sector, contributed to the slip, the index’s housebuilders prevented the decline from getting out of hand.
The announcement of special dividends in 2019 and 2020 from Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), following a 19% rise in half year pre-tax profit to £408 million, allowed the stock to climb 2% after the bell, giving the rub to Berkeley Group (up 1.1%). A similarly positive update from the non-FTSE 100 Redrow (LON:RDW), which posted its own 5% surge in interim pre-tax profit, also contributed to the positive air around the sector.
Sterling’s optimism-draining start to February showed little sign of being substantially reversed as Wednesday got underway. With Theresa May’s latest border promises to Northern Ireland riling up the hard-line Tory Brexiters, the pound sat flat against the dollar while clawing back 0.2% against the euro.
Dealt yet another data-blow, with German factory orders falling 1.6% in December sparking fears of a Teutonic recession, the Eurozone stumbled its way through the open. The DAX dropped 0.4%, though did keep above 11300, while the CAC was down 0.3%.
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