Rising 150 points the Dow Jones managed to re-cross 19900 this afternoon, leaving it around 85 points away from that 20000 mark. The index had a helping hand this Tuesday in the form of the latest US manufacturing PMIs; the Markit figure was revised to 54.3 from an initial 54.2 reading, while the ISM number hit a near year high, coming in at 54.7 against the 53.2 forecast. A few more figures like that this week, alongside the markets firing at full post-holiday season capacity, could well see the Dow Jones finally reach the summit that eluded the index over the holiday period.
Talking of all-time highs, the FTSE failed to substantially build on its record intra-day peak this afternoon. Despite a muscular showing from the banking sector, with investors perhaps cheering reports that decisions on whether to keep operations in the UK post-Brexit could begin to appear as early as February, and a Brent Crude-led surge from its commodity stocks, the FTSE could only flirt with 7200 following that brief peck on the cheek this morning. That may be too negative a viewing of the FTSE’s performance, however; the UK index has continued to find room for fresh highs even with the prospect of 2017’s litany of uncertainties looming on the horizon.
While not quite as interesting as what was on offer in the UK and US, the Eurozone indices still posted some decent growth this afternoon. The DAX found its way to a 17 month high, while the CAC now sits only 70 points away from 5000 after rising by around 0.9%.
