The European markets couldn’t quite decide which way to go this Monday morning, quickly pulling back from an early plunge to settle for something more akin to flatness.
The main drivers appear to be the continued aftermath of Donald Trump’s trade warmongering words last week, and the populist swell of Italy’s national election, both of which are keeping sentiment in check.
The FTSE rose 0.2% after the bell, a start that sounds decent until you clock that the index is still the wrong side of 7100 and is sitting at its worst price in nearly a month. The pound got off to a similarly drab start; cable is still trading below $1.38, while against the euro sterling managed a meagre 0.1% increase – paltry given the political uncertainty out of Italy.
Talking of the Italians, the FTSE MIB plunged 1% off the back of the election, investors clearly unhappy with the support for Five Star Movement and Northern League parties, without being panicked enough to spark a genuine rout. The rest of the Eurozone indices were a tad more sanguine, though the DAX did still dip 0.2% to drop below 11900.
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