Monday is an anomaly in an otherwise busy week for data, providing investors with precious little to work with. However, the markets are still being buoyed by the ‘phenomenal’ tax promises floated by Donald Trump last week, promises that helped send the Dow Jones to yet another record high.
That US-inspired comeback at the end of last week has left the FTSE only around 100 points away from its own all-time highs, though it currently looks like if the UK index is going to breach that level it is going to do so incrementally. The FTSE started the day with a mere 10 point increase despite a cluster of strong growth in the mining sector, the index seemingly hampered once again by the pound’s early gains.
Sterling rose nearly half a percent against the dollar after the bell, putting the currency back above the $1.25 mark. Against the euro it managed a less impress 0.2% rise, though that does take the pound to an 11 day high of €1.176.
Over in the Eurozone the DAX and CAC continued to build on Friday’s gains with 0.3% and 0.5% increases respectively. Both indices have now recovered from the sharp drop they saw this time last Monday, when the launch of Marine Le Pen’s anti-EU presidential campaign, alongside the re-emergence of the Greek debt crisis, weighed on sentiment. And while, of course, both of those factors are still in play, investors seemed focus on the swell of positivity stemming from the US markets rather than the issues a bit closer to home.
