FTSE continues to lag, as Sage shares tank

A strengthening pound has continued to stifle the FTSE 100, with its European peers driving higher despite a weakening trade story in China.

• FTSE continues to lag amid a strengthening pound

• Sage group tanks, as focus turns to US banks

• Chinese trade sags, heightening fears over trade war

The FTSE has continued to underperform its peers this morning, with the index trading in the red despite gains across German, Spanish and French indices. Dovish minutes from the ECB yesterday, coupled with a wider story of USD weakness has ensured the pound continues to outperform against its main peers. With the pound hitting a two-month high against the dollar and ten-month high against the euro, it comes as no surprise that the internationally focused FTSE 100 suffers, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 joins it’s European counterparts in the green.

Chief amongst the FTSE losers today is Sage group, which looks set for the biggest fall in 25 years. While the firm revised down full year organic revenue growth forecasts by 1%, there are fears that this does not account for a potentially tough 6-months ahead. The corporate calendar looks set to gather pace in the coming weeks, with US bank earnings coming into focus today amid the release of figures from JP Morgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. With rates rising, a raft of tax breaks coming into play, and a strengthening economy, there is reason to believe US banks are going to shift into another gear in 2018.

Chinese trade data has been the big focus for markets after the biggest economy in Asia posted its first dollar-denominated trade deficit in a year. A sizeable downward shift in Chinese exports will certainly provide heightened anxiety over where we go from here, with the threat of a trade war looming large over an economy which is still heavily reliant upon international demand for their products.

Ahead of the open we expect the Dow Jones to open 28 points higher, at 24,511.