The summer slowdown felt in effect this Tuesday, with Europe barely able to raise its head from the pillow.
Adding at best 0.2%, the FTSE was sat just below 7,100 after the bell, kept from that level by the 0.6% and 1.2% losses for BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) respectively.
The index did benefit, however, from sterling’s retreat. GBP/USD was down 0.3%, and back below $1.414, while against the euro the pound dipped 0.1% to €1.1619.
The Eurozone was even less energetic, with the DAX down 0.1% and the CAC up the same amount.
There’s still a flurry of data from the region that could case a shift. The Eurozone-wide ZEW economic sentiment reading is set to rise from 84.0 to 85.5, while the German-specific equivalent is eyeing a jump from 84.4 to 86.0. The revised Q1 GDP reading, however, is set to remain at -0.6%,
At present the Dow Jones doesn’t look interested in upping the ante this afternoon. The futures have the index down 0.1%, and hovering around 34,600. That leaves the Dow within reach of its 35,000 all-time highs, but perhaps reticent to near that level until it gets a gander at Thursday’s inflation data.
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