Good morning. The FTSE 100 is expected to fall flat today after yesterday’s rise as market sentiment turned overnight on fresh fears over the spreading delta variant, despite a strong set of corporate earnings. London’s main index closed at 7,081.72 points yesterday and is set to inch up 0.04pc this morning.
CMC Markets chief analyst Michael Hewson warned August could repeat July’s “Jekyll and Hyde market, optimistic one day, and pessimistic the next,”, after Asian stocks came back under selling pressure overnight. Traders appear fearful that China’s crackdown on the education space could yet spread to other sectors.
“Last night’s decline in US markets and softer Asia session looks set to translate into a fairly flat open later this morning for markets in Europe,” Hewson said.
5 things to start your day
1) HS2 accused of having no overall green benefits: Ministers have boasted about the £100bn project’s environmental credentials – but a former rail regulator says the line will not cut carbon.
2) Meggitt job losses feared in wake of £6.3bn takeover: Undertakings from…
