London’s FTSE-100 is nudging its way higher at the open with the market clearly undeterred by Teresa May’s announcement that she would trigger Article 50 in less than six months time, paving the way for the UK to exit the European Union.
By Tony Cross, Monk Communications, 3rd October 2016
Friday’s upbeat close on Wall Street, a positive start to the week in Asia and what appears to be growing consensus that Deutsche Bank won’t be toppled is proving sufficient to encourage the bulls to have one more go in the UK.
Royal Dutch Shell is nudging its way towards the top of the board in early trade, with supportive crude prices helping here, whilst theme park and attraction operator Merlin is one notable faller. With weekend press reporting that director remuneration will be linked to the operator’s safety record in the wake of last year’s Alton Towers crash, the timing of last night’s problems on the London Eye – leaving tourists stranded for three hours – could have been better. RBS is also feeling some downside pressure with suggestions that they could be the next bank to face a hefty US fine for mis-selling taking a toll here. There’s certainly no shortage of fundamentals on the table, but as it stands right now, the FTSE-100 is within touching distance of highs for the year and assuming there are no upsets in the UK PMI data, another leg higher could well follow.
