From the bell, there was an aura of grey skies in the air. Not only were there rain clouds over the UK but also over market sentiment following the early announcement of Eurozone flash PMIs in the morning, which cemented red fundamentals across the board throughout Monday.
Speaking on the market’s dull trudge to the final bell, Spreadex Financial Analyst Connor Campbell commented,
“The markets spent the day in various shades of red, the tone set by the morning’s alarming Eurozone flash PMIs.”
“Thanks to those woeful PMI readings – the choice cuts were from the manufacturing sector, with the German figure at 41.4 and the region-wide number at 45.6 – the Eurozone was the worst performing area. Losing 140 points the DAX neared a 2-week low, while the CAC dropped under 5620 as it fell 1%; the pair was maybe saved from anything worse by the prospect of the ECB’s recently announced stimulus.”
“Having tumbled last Friday, the Dow Jones didn’t really do much after the bell. Nevertheless, a 0.1% decline pushed the index back below 26900 – like the DAX, its worst level since September 11th.”
“The FTSE was in an interesting situation this Monday. The overall tone of the markets ensured it spent most of the session at a loss. However, its decline was capped at around 0.2%, thanks to both the pound’s losses – Brexit anxiety sent it 0.4% lower against the dollar and 0.1% against the euro – and movements in its travel sector.”
“The market never leaves time to mourn. In other words, investors swiftly moved to potential winners in the travel sector following the collapse of Thomas Cook. Tui maintained an 8.5%, 7-month high-hitting rise, while easyJet climbed 4.1%. British Airways-owner IAG, on the other hand, fell 1.6%.”
Some enjoyed success on Monday, with hedge funds collecting pay-outs on their short positions on Thomas Cook. By-and-large however, the week has begun with the familiar lacklustre tone which has shrouded the majority of fundamentals thus far in 2019.
Elsewhere in markets and macro economic news, there have been updates from; ECB stimulus, the bid for the London Stock Exchange (LON: LSE), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY), Jo Johnson quitting, Hilary Benn’s Brexit delay bill, Parliament being prorogued, Barclays (LON: BARC) and Deutsche Bank (ETR: DBK).