Peter Cardillo | Chief Market Economist,Spartan Capital Securities LLC
March 25, 2019Le Fonti International – 22 March 2019
March 26, 2019The FTSE 100 looks set to start the new week on the back foot, extending the previous session’s losses, with worries over Brexit and global growth weighing on sentiment. Tesco (LON:TSCO) will be in focus today as it apologises over misleading a supplier in relation to its Irish stores.
Index seen lower
IG’s opening calls suggest that the Footsie will start trading 0.43 percent lower at 7,176 points. The blue-chip index is likely to take cues from the US, where shares tumbled on Friday, pressured by recession fears.
“There’s a host of worries out there and those worries continue to mount,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, as quoted by CNBC. “The fear of recession is increasing.” Asian shares have tracked the US lower this morning.
On the Brexit front, Reuters reports that Prime Minister Theresa May had held crisis talks with senior colleagues and hardline Brexiteers yesterday in an effort to win support for her twice-defeated Brexit deal.
“The meeting discussed a range of issues, including whether there is sufficient support in the Commons to bring back a meaningful vote (for her deal) this week,” a spokesman said, as quoted by the newswire.
The Footsie tumbled in the previous session, giving up 147.72 points to close 2.01 percent lower at 7,207.59, as investors digested the European Union’s move to grant the UK a delay to Brexit.
Monday’s agenda
Today’s macroeconomic statements include Germany’s IFO index for March, due out at 09:00 GMT. In the US, the Chicago Fed national activity index for February is out at 12:30 GMT. There are no blue-chips scheduled to update investors on their performance this morning. In other news, The Times reports that Tesco has apologised after blaming a decision to pull some British products from its Irish stores on uncertainty surrounding Brexit.