FTSE opens up Hong Kong goes to the polls

The FTSE is marginally up this morning att 0.85%. The index is being led by Glencore and Spirax-Sarco Engineering, both up over 2% on the morning. Other gainers include Monzi, Bunzl and Coca Cola.

In Asian markets the Hang Seng and Nikkei both closed up. This is the last day of trading prior to elections in Hong Kong at the weekend which are being seen as a barometer of how much support demonstrators in the territory enjoy from the public at large. The Hang Seng finished the day up 128 points. In the background we have the ongoing US-China trade talks with Chinese premier Xi Jinping telling a conference today that his country was still working hard resolve the trade war.

Pound falls on Labour manifesto

The big focus in the UK has been on the Labour Party’s manifesto, which was published yesterday. Special attention is being paid to just how radical it is and what sort of damage Labour could potentially inflict on UK PLC, particularly around privatization and taxation policies. The reaction of the pound seems to have been negative, with sterling plunging this morning from 1.293 to 1.286 vs the USD having been largely range bound yesterday.

German economy dodges recession

In Europe it’s all about the German economy at the moment and what that could do to the Eurozone if it slipped into recession. Luckily Germany’s Federal Statistical Office confirmed this morning that the national economy was still growing in Q3, up 0.1%. The fact that many EUR traders were so focused on that confirmation shows just how close things stand. A number of other indicators – and influential European economists – had been predicting a recession. Despite some heavy selling of the EUR early this morning, it is now climbing back towards 1.106 vs the USD.