It’s been a relatively positive start for the FTSE this morning, up 8 points in early trading following a positive US index record close for the S&P 500 and reduced concerns surrounding the political climate in North Korea and the the downgrading of Hurricane Irma to a tropical storm as it hit the US mainland.
Accendo Markets analyst, Mike van Dulken noted “This has inspired Asian bourses to push further north, at the continued expense of the usual suspect gold and fixed income safe havens.”
With a busy week in store, it’s the pound that is in the spotlight. Today sees the first of three big releases this week with the UK inflation report.
“The pound surprised traders with its strength yesterday ahead of the today’s UK inflation report.” suggested ADS Securities analyst, Konstantinos Anthis.
“The British currency is trading just below the 1.32 mark this morning but during a day that the dollar was pushing ahead against all of its peers, the pound was able to largely hold on its own. This suggests that investors are holding an optimistic view over the upcoming UK data starting with the inflation reading today. Analysts are expecting a bullish printing of the CPI report and should this be the case then the pound could stand to gain against the dollar and the euro
Spreadex analyst, Connor Campbell added “Of course, if the CPI numbers don’t come in quite as high as forecast then the FTSE could be in for a windfall as investors move from currency to index.”
Over in the US, equity markets closed sharply higher on Monday on news that damage from Hurricane Irma was much lower than initially feared, sending the S&P500 to a fresh record closing high. Mike van Dulken noted “The index’s biggest one day gain since late April came alongside a 250 point rally for the Dow Jones, as Apple – ahead of Wednesday’s product launch, Goldman Sachs, The Travelers and 3M all produced strong rallies.”
“The Tech-focused Nasdaq also closed over 1% higher.”
