Good morning from London, where the FTSE 100 is pretty much exactly where it was at yesterday’s close on what its safe to say looks like a pretty quiet end to a pretty busy week.
The main story this week has been interest rates and specifically the different mood music being played on either side of the Atlantic. The US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England have all chosen to hold interest rates this week, but some have found the Fed’s dovish tone a little confusing. Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank points out the contrast between the resilient US economy adopting a dovish stance while faltering European economies hold onto a hawkish position give the impression that “something is amiss.“ Michael Hewson at CMC Markets agreed. He says “The contrast between the ECB’s tone and the Fed’s tone could not have been starker, and yet when you look at the numbers the divergence becomes even more bizarre… if anything the policy stances should be in reverse.”
Over in Asia China has reported its fastest monthly expansion of industrial output in almost two years at 6.6%, with retail sales groeing 10.1%, as the world’s second-largest economy continues to recover in fits and starts from the pandemic.
And turning to equities now and there’s no one FTSE100 listed stock that’s done anything particularly dramatic so far, but outside the top 100 the trainline’s share price is up 20% on news that the government is abandoning plans to build its own national rail app.
And Naked Wines’ share price is also up this morning, albeit slightly, after its half-year report revealed SOME progress in cutting costs and getting things moving in the right direction.
