Ignoring its cheery commodity stocks the FTSE fell 25 points as the day progressed, taking it back under the 6950 mark it crossed at the end of last week. A smattering of red in its banking sector, thanks to the uncertainties surrounding Monte dei Paschi, likely hasn’t helped the UK index out, even if the rest of the Italian banking stocks have caused the FTSE MIB to outperform its European peers this morning.
Over in the Eurozone the DAX and CAC both struggled as the euro took back some of the ground it lost in the aftermath of the ECB’s QE decision last Thursday, the currency taking half a percent off the dollar and 0.3% off the pound. This left the German index with a 40 point fall, while its French counterpart sat flat at 4760.
Looking ahead to the US open and those hoping for a bit more excitement might be left wanting, with the Dow Jones promising a meagre 20 point rise after the bell. The Dow is sitting just below 19800, but may find itself hampered this week by the incoming Federal Reserve rate rise on Wednesday.
