The FTSE has opened marginally down this morning. Spreadex Analyst, Connor Campbell suggested “With Brent Crude below $49.50 per barrel – the black stuff quickly decided that the Qatar-blockade wasn’t the recovery-sparking news it needed – and copper dropping another 1.2%, there was little for the oil and mining stocks to do but open in the red. This prevented the FTSE from gaining any momentum after the bell, though it has to be said its 10 points fall could have been a lot worse.”
The DAX and CAC have opened down this morning, slipping 0.2% and 0.4% respectively. Campbell added “The Eurozone isn’t offering much beyond a region-wide retail PMI this morning, meaning the German and French indices may be at the mercy of whatever the UK and US can produce.”
Over in the US, equity markets retreated from yesterday’s record highs as investors looked to the high risk events coming up later this week – the UK General Election and ongoing concerns over the ECB’s meeting on Thursday.
Accendo Markets Analyst, Henry Croft noted – “All three major bourses fell by less than 0.2%, with the Dow Jones outperforming despite Apple weighing following its new product launch, while the S&P500 fell by almost 3 point as Utilities dragged and the Tech-focused Nasdaq underperformed.”
It was a disappointing day for the dollar too as the US currency continued to post new lows against most of its major peers. ADS Securities Analyst, Konstantinos Anthis suggested – “The bearish figures from the labour market in the US have significantly affected the outlook for the dollar in the medium term. However, the euro and the pound have not taken advantage of the dollar weakness as traders don’t want to take new positions ahead of the UK election and with ongoing concerns over the ECB’s meeting on Thursday.”
