It is looking like a classically sluggish pre-Fed session, the markets struggling to do much of anything at the start of Wednesday’s trading.
With US covid-19 deaths fast-approaching 150,000, and the WHO repeatedly warning that the pandemic is only accelerating globally – while trying to dismiss the idea of ‘second waves’ in favour of one continuous blanket of cases – good news was in short supply.
The FTSE was left somewhat stranded, unchanged at 6135 after an initial spurt higher. A pullback from yesterday’s buoyant housing stocks didn’t help, nor did a 4.1% decline from Smith & Nephew (LON:SN). The medical equipment manufacturer swung from a half year profit of £383 million in 2019 to a loss of £34 million in 2020 thanks to the impact the pandemic has had on non-emergency surgeries.
An unlikely source of positivity for the FTSE was Next (LON:NXT), which shot up 9% in the aftermath of its second quarter update. It was, however, a case of a better than forecast statement than an actively good set of results, with sales down 28%. Yet there were some sparks of hope. Online sales rose 9%, and Lord Wolfson, constantly seeking to manage the market’s expectations, said that the company is ‘now more optimistic about the outlook for the full year than we were at the height of the pandemic.’ Next is forecasting profit of £195 million for this current year.
Over in the Eurozone DAX dipped into the red by 0.1%, but with the CAC jumping 0.7%, thanks to the likes of Gucci-owner Kering (PA:PRTP) surging 5% following a set of Q2 figures that weren’t quite as bad as expected (it refused to provide any guidance for the second half of the year, mind).
As for the Dow Jones, the US index is set to echo the leaden feet of its European peers, with the futures pointing to a 0.1% rise.
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