Following a 2 year high German Ifo business climate figure the DAX has spent the day grazing a fresh 2016 peak, the index trading just under the 10800 mark as investors cheer the news that Germany is like so over the Brexit. It hasn’t been all good news from the Eurozone, however. After announcing it intends to cut 2600 jobs, as well as sell off €28 billion in bad debts, Monte dei Paschi (Italy’s oldest bank) went haywire, initially rising before plunging so much that trading had to be suspended. It is the kind of bitter pill the Italian banking sector as a whole better get used to taking if it wants to avoid being the biggest threat to the Eurozone’s stability.
Over in the UK there wasn’t much for the FTSE or pound to deal with; the former managed a 25 point increase, keeping it the right side of 7000, while the latter sat flat against both the dollar and the euro. It will be interesting to see what kind of reaction, if any, is garnered by Mark Carney’s speech this afternoon, sterling especially on the lookout for news that the Brexit impact may have been overstated.
Looking ahead to the US open and the Dow Jones looks set to keep its head above 18200, the futures pointing to a 20 point increase. While the US does see the latest CB consumer confidence reading during the afternoon, the main focus is undoubtedly on Apple’s fourth quarter earnings release, even if the company doesn’t report until after the market closes.
