Markets have the Friday feeling … and that means nothing much is changing
Theresa May is half-way through her first official meeting of EU leaders over in Brussels.
Across the pond, the ferocious US Presidential Election is approaching with alarming speed, and in Europe, Mario Draghi is intent on keeping the quantitative easing guessing game running for as long as he can.
Plenty then, you would think, for traders to analyse, guess, tweak positions and make bets based on.
Well, not quite. It is Friday after all and the London markets have opened with a definite whimper instead of a bang.
Even sterling has been flat.
The pound was off by 0.2 per cent against the dollar, in a reassuringly uneventful day – at $1.2236. The currency has now ended seven of the past eight trading days within the tight one cent range of $1.22 to $1.23. It may be hovering near 31-year lows, but after the flash crash two weeks ago such stability may be welcome.
After speculation over the future of monetary policy in the Eurozone following European Central Bank (ECB)'s president Mario Draghi's cryptic comments yesterday afternoon, the pound was up against the euro, firmly establishing itself in the €1.12 territory. A single pound will fetch you €1.1240 on the money markets.
The FTSE 100 has climbed to an all-time intra-day high during Theresa May's first 100 days as Prime Minister.
The stock markets were even less eventful. The FTSE 100 added just three points to stand at 7,029 by mid-morning, while the FTSE 250 was off 0.1 per cent.
British American Tobacco was a rare bright spot, climbing 3.4 per cent after making a $47bn offer for American rival Reynolds.