Ursula von der Layen’s claim that there is a ‘path to an agreement’ – a comment undermined later in the afternoon by saying a deal is ‘so close but yet...so far away’ – helped keep sterling hopeful on Wednesday.
Cable climbed 0.6%, pushing beyond $1.3505 for the first time in essentially a year. Against the euro, meanwhile, a 0.4% rise lifted sterling to a 2-week peak of €1.1085. The FTSE 250 also got involved, lifting back above 20,000 following a 0.6% increase.
What made all this slightly more notable is that the FTSE 100 was right there alongside its currency and mid-cap peers. Instead of wilting at the sight of the pound’s gains, the UK index added half a percent – though that is half of the growth managed at the start of the session, echoing a slowing pace seen elsewhere.
Only the DAX really maintained its propulsion, clinging onto a 165 point increase to strike a 10-month high of 13,540. In contrast, the CAC completely melted, spending the afternoon essentially unchanged.
After surging on stimulus hopes last night, the Dow Jones arguably earnt a quiet open this Wednesday. The index loitered around the 30,200 mark, at the moment lacking the confident or appetite to push any higher with a Federal Reserve meeting on the cards this evening.
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