Another day, another decline for key equity indices. European stocks were in the doldrums as investors fretted about inflation, politics, consumer spending and more.
Corporate news flow is picking up which is giving investors a reason to want to trade the markets, but mixed messages from these businesses is making it hard to call which way equities will move next.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.9% to 7,550 with defensive stocks including utilities and insurers among the worst performers.
“Rolls-Royce and London Stock Exchange both took a tumble on negative broker comment while investors appeared to be banking some profit in AstraZeneca following its recent strong run on the market,” says Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell.
“Mining and oil stocks enjoyed a small rally amid a pick-up in commodity prices once again. Brent Crude moved back above $100 a barrel.
“The FTSE 250 fell by nearly 1% with all sectors apart from energy in the red. Bucking the trend was industrial parts distributor Diploma which soared by 9% after a better than expected trading update.
“In Europe, Deutsche Bank slumped 10% and Commerzbank dropped nearly 9% after reports that a big investor had sold a chunk of shares in both companies.”
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