US equity markets continued their sell-off on the back of a disappointing performance from the Trump administration and the Republican party, with the Dow Jones now in its longest losing streak since 2011. The Tech-focused Nasdaq, however, continues its outperformance, closing higher once again, while the Dow, having pared early losses, remained hindered by Energy and Financial weakness while Telecoms were the biggest drag on the S&P 500.
Accendo Markets Analyst, Mike van Dulken commented – “[we’ve seen] an overnight recovery in investor sentiment following a Trump trade wobble derived from concerns about delivery on pro-growth policy pledges. US bourses may have closed lower, but only just, and well off their worst levels, while Asian bourses are back positive. A USD finding support at 10-month rising lows is helping in terms of curbing strength in the likes of the Yen, GBP and EUR to offer a helpful translation boost.”
The FTSE has risen back across 7300 this morning with a 10-ish point rise, though that still leaves it at the lower end of levels the index has found itself in throughout March.
Spreadex Analyst Connor Campbell commented – “After Monday’s explosive growth saw it just about close at a 2 month peak, cable was pretty quiet as the session got underway, the pound edging 0.1% higher against the dollar. Brexit gunslinger Theresa May is almost ready to pull the Article 50 trigger, so it is going to be interesting to see whether any jitters creep in to the UK markets as the day goes on.”
In focus today
Today’s macro calendar is once again very light, with major releases not coming until the US session this afternoon. These come in the form of US House Prices, expected to show continuing growth; US Consumer Confidence, forecast to cool slightly and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index will look to avoid a repeat of yesterday’s underperforming Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index reading. The Scottish Parlaiment are voting today on whether or not to pursue a second independence referendum from the UK