Gatwick warns of UK travel being left behind Europe due to costly PCR tests – business live
- European stock markets set for fourth week of gains while sterling declines
- FTSE 100 on track for longest winning streak since November
- Disney reports post-Covid rebound as theme parks reopen
- Introduction
Let’s have a quick look at data from Spain, France and the eurozone this morning.
Inflation in Spain rose to an annual rate of 2.9% in July, its highest level in almost five years, due to a 20.7% spike in energy prices (which may have peaked), while inflation in France eased to 1.2% from 1.5%.
Today we also received the eurozone’s trade data for June, which saw the trade surplus narrow slightly to €12.4bn in June from May’s €13.8bn reading. This was caused by a slight drop in exports of 0.7% m/m, while imports were stable over the month. However, the trade surplus remains broadly in line with levels observed over the last ten years.
The slight fall back in exports can be put down to global supply-chain disruption, which we know has affected the performance of European industry over Q2, particularly Germany. Furthermore, while export volumes are hovering close to their February 2020 level, imports have well exceeded theirs as resilient consumption for goods among the bloc’s consumers supports import demand.
On Wall Street, stock futures (for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500) have hit record highs after Disney reported a post-pandemic rebound as its theme parks reopened. The world’s biggest entertainment company beat analysts’ forecasts in the quarter to 3 July.
This suggests that Wall Street will get off to a flying start when trading starts this afternoon. Over here, the UK’s FTSE 100 is 0.36% ahead, Germany’s Dax has gained 0.37% and France’s CAC is up 0.3%.
