Investors pretty much knew that the US was about to slap steel and aluminium tariffs on the EU, Mexico and Canada, so in true market fashion, it was sell on the rumour and buy on the fact.
The EU however said it was pressing ahead with a complaint to the World Trade Organisation about the US move, and had also opened a challenge against China over intellectual property.
News that a week of political turmoil in Italy had ended with a new coalition government also helped sentiment, while the no confidence vote in Spain’s (now ex) prime minister Rajoy was helped by the fact that a new euro-friendly administration was in place almost immediately.
So markets are ending the week on a positive note, with Italy’s FTSE MIB up 2.53%, Spain’s Ibex 1.83% better and Germany’s Dax ahead by 1.4%. In the UK the FTSE 100 is 0.5% higher, while on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 221 points or 0.9%.
On the economic front, the US created more jobs than expected in May, something previewed by a Trump tweet ahead of the official release.
In Europe, eurozone manufacturing fell to a 15 month low. In the UK, however, the latest manufacturing PMI survey came in slightly betteer than expected, although the recovery was said to be unconvincing.
Source: www.theguardian.com
