Heading into the close for the UK, shares are broadly down on the day after a volatile afternoon session.
After a sharp sell-off first thing on the back of news that a significant Abu Dhabi investor was offloading more than a billion shares in Barclays, the rest of the day has seen some wild swings for UK stocks but little overall change from where we started the day. This afternoon saw a partial recovery with the release of the US Home Sales data – which showed a bigger increase than expected and gave hope that the American property market is showing some signs of stabilising.
However, this surge proved short-lived and has left the FTSE 100 index down by around 50 points so far. Today’s sale of Barclays shares may well act as something of a wake-up call for those sitting on recent short-term gains in the banks - a reminder that nothing goes up for ever. It could well prove to be at least a temporary cap in the strength we have seen in this area within the last few months as investors book some profits and wait to see what happens next. The UK market as a whole has seemed a little lethargic over the last few weeks – even in the face of ongoing US strength – and at the moment it’s difficult to get too excited either way about the FTSE 100 from here. We may have to wait until this Friday’s US unemployment numbers are announced before we have any clues as to which way the market is going to head next.
Anthony Grech is Research Analyst for IG Index, the world's largest and longest running spread betting company
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