There wasn’t much cohesion during Monday’s trading, a sign of a market struggling to find direction in a quagmire of covid-19 news.
Coming off the back of another weekend of record-breaking daily increases in new coronavirus cases domestically, a nightmare compounded by reports that Donald Trump is looking to stop billions in track-and-trace funding like a true madman, there was little to stop the Dow Jones falling after the bell.
Dropping 130 points the US index found itself slipping below 26550, a notable reversal from the 27200-pushing intraday highs seen last Wednesday.
The FTSE was on the Dow’s side this Monday, falling 0.6% to lurk around 6250. In contrast, the DAX turned things around to rise 75 points, re-crossing 13000 in the process.
The differing forms in the UK and Eurozone can be traced back to the respective performances of the pound and euro. Sterling shot up 0.6% against the dollar and 0.7% against the single currency, taking advantage of localised weaknesses in both of those regions.
The euro – which started the day on the front foot – gradually lost confidence as the day went on, its energy sapped by the lack of progress at the EU summit regarding a €750 billion covid-19 rescue-package.
It is worth noting that Monday’s uneven trading came in the face of a remarkably positive update from the Oxford vaccine trials, with the University stating the injection appears safe, and triggers an immune response in human patients.
The lack of market bounce following this news can be attributed to Robert Peston, who had already revealed last week that Oxford was preparing to release a promising statement. Monday’s release, then, was merely the confirmation of gains already made by Europe and the US.
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