Following in the footsteps of the Dow Jones – which has had a terrible start to March as investors clamour for concrete US-China trade war progress – the European markets slumped their way through Thursday’s open.
With some big names – Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), BHP Group (LON:BHPB), Persimmon (LON:PSN), Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and RSA Insurance – going ex-dividend, and the general mood dour, the FTSE didn’t stand a chance. Luckily for the index, it has tended outperformed its peers in the last week or so, meaning its half a percent decline still leaves it up on the month so far.
As for the pound, it was once again (relatively) stoic in the face of the fractured Brexit landscape. The EU has reportedly given the UK ’48 hours’ to offer a Brexit solution if an altered deal is to be worked out in time for the promised ‘meaningful’ vote next Tuesday. The currency slipped 0.1% against both the dollar and the euro, noticeably off where it ended February – especially versus the greenback – but still up on the year.
Over in the Eurozone the story was much the same. The CAC lost 0.5% to hit a near one week low, while the DAX shed 60 points as it dropped below 25550.
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