FTSE and European bourses higher as market gathers post Trump China dispute shock

A day after US and China trade tensions took another step to full hostility the markets managed to regroup and start afresh. The FTSE opened on a stronger note, up 0.7% Asian markets also traded higher and key European bourses started the day on an upward trajectory.

The Sino-US conflict is not likely to fade into the background any time soon but now that some strong blows have been exchanged it will take some time for the effects and the real cost to be felt by businesses. 

Brexit vote to bring more chaos to the Commons

Meanwhile the UK Prime Minister is facing a fresh Brexit showdown as the MPs are due to vote on Parliament’s involvement in Britain's exit from the European Union after the Lords voted for MPs to have a meaningful say on the final deal. 

Last week’s discussion descended into chaos with Scottish MPs walking out in protest and almost 100 Labour MPs going directly against Jeremy Corbyn. 

This kind of discord at the top is continuing to leave business without clarity on any of the key aspects in their dealings with Europe and will continue to affect both UK company shares and the pound.

CBI to provide the last piece of puzzle before the BoE meeting

The CBI will publish its monthly industrial trends survey later today, the last piece of the puzzle needed by the Bank of England for its UK interest rates deliberations tomorrow. 

The last CBI survey showed that UK manufacturing remained flat for about three months and if there is a similar reading tomorrow it will reinforce other recent data showing that the UK economy is not moving forward very fast. 

This combined with the tensions in the Commons over Brexit negotiations could put the bank off from going ahead with a planned rate increase later this summer.