With the latest assumedly pro-business governmental appointment made by Donald Trump – this time being ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State – the Dow Jones continued its post-election rise this afternoon, jumping another half a percent. That has seen the index near, and sporadically cross, 19900 for the first time, taking the Dow ever closer to the market mecca that is the 20000 mark.
Things were just as robust over in the Eurozone, largely thanks to the boost Unicredit, which has seen its gains rise to nearly 11% across the day, gave the banking sector with its major restructuring plan announcement this morning. The DAX pushed on by another 90 points, taking it towards 11300, while the CAC increased by 0.7%.
The FTSE also benefited from a buoyant set of banking stocks, jumping 1% to near 6950. This despite substantial gains for the pound, which took 0.3% off the dollar and 0.2% off the euro, likely on the hope that the Bank of England will raise rates next year if inflation keeps gathering pace. Tomorrow should be another big day for the UK instruments, with the latest jobs report arriving in the morning; though the wage growth and unemployment rate figures are forecast to remain unchanged, it will be worth watching the jobless claims reading given that it is the most up to date number of the lot.