The FTSE 100 was an exemplary reflection of the weather in London on Tuesday as the index dipped in soggy, uninspiring trade.
The index started the session higher, but the minor gains quickly turned to minor losses as utility companies, housebuilders, and miners weighed on performance.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.35% at the time of writing.
There was a noticeable bid in GBP/USD on Tuesday, which added to the downside in the FTSE 100 as major overseas earners HSBC, AstraZeneca, and Diageo slipped.
Investors will also have one eye on a series of global economic data due for release later this week in the form of US PCE, Chinese Manufacturing PMIs, and several Federal Reserve speakers.
“Later this week a second estimate of US GDP for the first quarter, the core PCE reading of inflation which the Federal Reserve likes to pore over when making decisions on rates, and Chinese manufacturing figures are likely to dominate the market’s agenda,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
Federal Reserve speeches have recently put the markets on the back foot after senior figures suggested that a Federal Reserve rate cut over the summer was far from nailed on.
Ocado
After JP Morgan amended its price target to 450p on Friday, Ocado had another strong session, gaining over 8%, suggesting that something more material was at play that hadn’t been announced by the company.
Amazon had previously been rumoured to have an interest in making a bid for Ocado, and there is mounting shareholder pressure for the company to switch to a US listing to gain a better valuation. However, there is no suggestion developments in either one of these considerations are driving Ocado shares higher on Tuesday.
JD Sports was also among the risers after announcing it would delay the release of its full-year results but was confident in meeting the guidance set out earlier in the year. JD Sports shares were over 6% higher at the time of writing.