The FTSE was up 24 points in early trading after a lacklustre finish on Wall St and a mixed bag from Asia overnight. The major US indexes having to digest a framework of Republican tax reform from Donald Trump which already appears to be encountering hurdles.
Over in the Eurozone noted Spreadex analyst, Connor Campbell, “the DAX managed to climb another 35 points, in the process hitting a fresh, 12750-eyeing 3 month high.”
“The main focus for the region this Friday is the flash inflation figure for September, with analysts forecasting a rise from 1.5% to 1.6% month-on-month; if accurate, that could see the Euro’s gains against the Pound joined by some growth against the Dollar.”
This follows gains yesterday by the Euro and the Pound against the dollar yesterday after both had sat for the early part of the week. ADS Securities Analyst, Konstantinos Anthis commented “The European majors were able to benefit from some weakness in the dollar, which has seen it give up ground versus most of its counterparties over the past 24 hours.”
“It seems that investors were not happy to hear yet another tax reforms’ speech from President Trump which offered no details while at the same time, several economists believe that Trump’s proposed tax cuts will widen the US budget deficit.”
“Given that we still don’t have a detailed roadmap for the intended changes any substantial progress still looks months away and market participants have only Fed’s rate hiking plans to fuel the demand for the dollar at this stage.”
The US equity markets closed mostly positive yesterday as investors continued to digest President Trump’s framework for tax reform, “most notably with the small-cap Russell 2000 closing at a fresh record high” suggested Accendo Markets analyst, Mike van Dulken. “Amongst large-cap indices, the Dow Jones outperformed as McDonald’s provided the most gains, the S&P 500 also climbed, however closed just shy of a record closing high, while the Nasdaq finished marginally above breakeven.”
