Takeover rumours fly but markets fail to take off
Markets are yawning their way to the weekend with a quiet finish to a tumultuous week.
Stocks has shaved a few points, sterling is up against some, down against some and very little of note is happening on the financial markets despite a big day of political developments and some chunky corporate news.
Two takeover rumours gripped trading floors as London opened – first it was news of AT&T and TimeWarner exploring a tie-up in the US. Then, we had our own mega-merger to get stuck into with British American Tobacco (BAT) launching a $47bn takeover bid for Pall Mall and Camel cigarette maker Reynolds.
In Europe, Theresa May insisted she was still after a bespoke Brexit deal for the UK, just as the Wallonians – a region which makes up about one-third of Belgium – were busy shooting down the EU's biggest ever free trade deal. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) between Europe and Canada now looks in serious trouble after every single member of the EU was on course to agree to the small print, save for Wallonia.
European politicians were dismayed as it means a high-profile signing agreement with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scheduled for next week will have to be canned. It also raises big doubts about the EU's ability to reach agreement and sign-off on a deal with the UK in the brisk two-year timeline afforded by Article 50.
Despite that excitement, the markets were unbudged.
As we approached the close, sterling was down 0.4 per cent at $1.2202, the pound was steady against the euro at €1.228.
The FTSE 100 ended down by just six points at 7,020 after heading up then back down again throughout the day. BAT actually ended down 3.1 per cent after rising by a similar amount after their takeover bid was made public. Clothes maker Burberry was the top climber, jumping 3.8 per cent after US designer Coach were said to be taking an interest in the British stalwart.
Joshua Mahony at IG summer it up: "An interesting week is heading for a somewhat drab finish".