Once again the FTSE had to sit at the side-lines and watch its peers party, with the UK index missing out on the wider market rebound.
There were 2 main factors keeping the FTSE from joining in with the day’s gains: the pound and the commodity sector. The former managed to find the positives – of which there were few – in the first annual retail sales decline since 2013, rising 0.2% against the dollar and 0.5% against the euro as October’s month-on-month figure came in higher than forecast.
As for the oil and mining stocks, they were broadly in the red, with a 2.4% plunge from Shell (LON:RDSa) making it the worst offender. This left the FTSE flat at around 7380 – off yesterday’s 6-ish week nadir, but not by much.
Over in the eurozone the pullback by the euro allowed the region’s indices to put some distance between them and Wednesday’s lows. The DAX is climbed above 13000 with a 0.4% rise, while the CAC is up half a percent and the IBEX is the Eurozone-leader with a 0.8% increase.
The Dow Jones was more than willing to get in on this rebound, despite the lingering doubts over the Republican’s ability to pass their much-discussed tax reforms, jumping 150 points after the bell. That recovers all of yesterday’s losses and then some, sending it back above 23400.
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