New York
World stock markets were mixed Saturday as European traders mulled Britain’s increasingly acrimonious war dance with the EU, while in the United States technology shares continued to pull back.
Sterling remained under pressure as Britain sparred with Brussels, rejecting an ultimatum to withdraw controversial Brexit legislation but agreeing to extend talks next week.
On the plus side for British industry, a stuttering currency — which hauled itself off multi-month midweek lows — has been helping to boost share prices of index multinational’s earnings in dollars.
Those increases helped London’s FTSE index gain ground.
After Thursday’s sterling selloff, the pound was stable on Friday amid news the British economy expanded 6.6 percent — albeit still well off pre-coronavirus levels.
“Ultimately UK investors will probably thank the UK government for pushing down sterling and allowing the FTSE the room to recover 6000 (points),” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.— AFP
