Rising 50 points after the bell the Dow Jones now sits just over 20200, ascending to yet another record peak seemingly on the back of Donald Trump’s ‘phenomenal’ tax promises. The dollar also appeared to get a bit of a Trump-boost this afternoon, taking 0.2% off the pound, euro and yen, though its gains were capped somewhat by the sharper than expected fall in US consumer confidence.
The pound’s afternoon losses allowed the FTSE to recover the growth that had petered out around lunchtime, the UK index jumping 30 points as the day went on. That leaves the FTSE at its best price since January 17th, supported by the decent data out of the UK this morning.
The Eurozone was the weakest region this Friday, the DAX and CAC both sitting flat having been up as much as half a percent after the bell this morning. The renewed prominence of the Greek debt crisis, and the potential departure of the IMF as one of the country’s creditors, has perhaps supressed investors’ appetite in the region.
