It’s a miserable day on the markets as investors reacted coldly to the Federal Reserve’s latest comments,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“The lack of new economic support measures and simply to have guidance for rates to remain low for longer left markets disappointed.
“The FTSE 100 fell 0.9% to 6,026, Germany’s DAX index declined 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.6%.
“On the UK market, cyclical stocks went out the window with a big sell-off in miners and financials, and investors instead shifting their money to healthcare companies.
“HSBC was the biggest faller, down 3%, with many other banking stocks also weak as investors speculated that the US strategy of low rates for a lengthy period would extend to other countries.
“Banks rely on higher rates to make higher profits, so the idea that this tailwind might not happen for some time served to further dampen investor enthusiasm for the sector.”
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