If you ever wished to see an underwhelming arc, you need only look as far as the performance of global equities on Friday. After a horrific Thursday session, indices had an excited start on Friday, before running out of steam in the afternoon and settling fractionally above where they began.
Speaking on the optimistic opening, Spreadex Financial Analyst Connor Campbell commented,
“There was little reason behind Friday’s gains, beyond investors deciding that the severe losses of the last few days provide a handy entry point to a market that had gone on a hell of a run at the start of the month.”
The FTSE, for instance, rose 1.1% to over 6,150 points, despite the news that the UK economy had contracted by 20.4% in April. Similarly, the DAX added 75 points and the CAC bounced by 1.7%, both in spite of industrial production falling by 17.1% in April.
As UK trading entered the final knocking of the week, however, the FTSE was down to a 0.048% rally, to under 6,080 points. Similarly in other equities, the CAC revised its gains down to 0.60%, while the DAX ended up dipping by 13 points. Finally, after recovering to over 25,900 points, the DOW Jones sits at 25,350 points (up from its 25,100 point nadir) as UK traders go home for the weekend.
This evening could offer some consolation, though, with some pundits predicting a 600 point bounce when the bell rings on Wall Street.
Similarly, “In terms of data, US import prices are set to rise from -2.6% to 0.6% month-on-month, while the preliminary consumer sentiment reading from the University of Michigan is expected to jump from 72.3 to 75.0.” adds Connor Campbell. So there are some glimmers of positivity for global equities, as we wrap up for the week.