The markets ended up striking something of a balance on Wednesday, caught between the residual positivity of Tuesday’s US stimulus/steroid treatment hopes, and the realities of a potential second wave.
Investors just couldn’t quite decide where on that optimism/pessimism spectrum that sat.
The Dow Jones, which at points breached 26600, found itself down by 100 points, sending it the wrong side of 26200. It arguably would’ve been even lower without the buffer of the recent stimulus reports, given the apparent severity of the new outbreak in China, and the seemingly uncontained covid-19 situation in the US itself.
Yet while the Dow was stuck in the red, the European indices managed a variety of different gains. The CAC led the way, climbing half a percent, with the DAX rising 0.3%.
Thanks to a slide from oil, the FTSE was left with a meagre 0.1%, even with the pound itself falling 0.4%.
There may be some good news on the way for the UK index on Thursday, however, if the Bank of England extends its bond-buying programme by another £100 billion like analysts expect.
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