A quiet open nevertheless saw the markets start the week at a bevy of highs following last Friday’s China-assisted gains.
Scraping together a 0.1% increase, the FTSE 100 ensured it opened Monday at 7,020, a level last seen almost exactly 14-months ago. Though there’s still some ways left before it gets there, a return to the 7,900-approaching records highs of May 2018 all of a sudden don’t feel as far off as they once did.
Beating its blue-chip brother to the chase, the FTSE 250 hit ANOTHER record peak after the bell, rising a further 0.3% to touch 22,650.
Also doing fine was GBP/USD, which continued a run of positive sessions as it rose 0.2% to a 2-week peak of $1.386.
After a lacklustre fortnight the DAX burst into action last Friday, breaking away from 15,250 to reach a fresh all-time high. A quiet start meant the German bourse couldn’t really build on that feat, lurking around 30 points shy of 15,500.
And, finally, even though the futures have the index falling 0.2% later this afternoon, the Dow Jones is still expected to start the session above 34,100. It’s been a steady climb for the Dow this month, opening at 33,030, with a good chunk of April left if it wants to strike 35,000.
There isn’t too much going on this Monday, which might inhibit the market’s ability to really push forward and break records. Then again, said calm may be the kind of environment the Western indices want if they are to stretch their legs.
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