Friday saw the ECB reject Monte dei Paschi’s request for more time to raise capital, a move that sent Italy’s oldest bank down 11.5% (trading was suspended not once, but twice) and puts pressure on the country’s leaderless government to try and agreed on some kind of bailout package potentially as early as this weekend. The European banking sector took the news fairly badly; Deutsche Bank dropped 3.6%, while Barclays fell 3% and Credit Agricole slipped over 1%.
However, the region’s indices weren’t as fussed, still savouring yesterday’s ECB QE announcement. The FTSE maintained at 0.2% rise, the DAX reversed its earlier mild losses to approach 11200 and the CAC jumped half a percent to keep itself above 4750. The euro had a bit more trouble, plunging 0.7% against the dollar – taking it back below $1.055 – and 0.6% against the pound.
As for the Dow Jones, a 25 point climb after the bell leaves the index at an effective all-time high. The Dow has tended to do its best work when the European indices have shut up shop, meaning it could well clear 19700 by the end of trading this evening.
