Monday saw a low-key start to what is a pretty busy week, the European markets hardly raring to go after the bell.
Subdued was the best word to describe the mood of the morning session. It took all of the FTSE’s effort to scrape together a 0.2% increase, leaving it a fraction short of 6,700.
Sterling echoed the timid performance of the FTSE. Against the GBP/USD it added 0.2%, while against the EUR/USD it was up 0.1%.
The UK markets are reflecting the tone of its officials. The government has struck an unusually pessimistic tone over the last few days. Learning from past mistakes, ministers have refused to make promises about when the UK will come out of its current lockdown, including refusing to commit to schools opening post-Easter.
News that the Brazilian variant of covid-19 has been found in Germany failed to prevent the DAX from eking out a 0.4% increase this Monday. The CAC, by comparison, was flat 5,550, as the French death total crossed 72,000 over the weekend.
At the moment the day’s Covid-led quiet is set to extend into the American session. The Dow Jones is heading for a 70 point rise this afternoon, one that would put it back above 31,050.
Monday is very much an outlier in terms of action this week. Tuesday sees the latest UK jobs report, Wednesday has the first Federal Reserve meeting not only of 2021, but the Biden administration, and Thursday gives investors a first look at the USA’s fourth quarter GDP performance.
And that’s not to mention a stacked US earnings calendar, including Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Tuesday, and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on Wednesday, the latter of which is potentially set for its first ever $100 billion-plus quarter.
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