Small gains for European markets

Morning trading has seen the FTSE 100 rise ten points, while recent weakness in EUR/USD and GBP/USD has moderated for now.

• European stocks edge higher on quiet day.

• Dollar strength eases temporarily.

• Mitchells & Butlers looking towards a better year, lifting the share price.

The quiet Thanksgiving Day session in global markets has seen European indices edge slightly higher, taking their cue from a better finish to the day yesterday, especially in the US where the usual pre-holiday buying helped to lift stocks from the lows seen earlier in the session. With an empty calendar before us, markets will find it hard to make much headway, but at least the pound and euro might get some respite after the avalanche of selling they have suffered as everyone piles into the US dollar in expectation of a move to higher interest rates in the US. But any breathing space will be brief, since yesterday’s claims and Fed minutes have given a further indication that a rate hike will be on the cards for 2022, barring any deterioration in the data in the first half of the year.

Company watchers have struggled to find much of note in the crop of RNSs this morning, but Mitchells & Butlers has seen a small rise in its shares as it manages to point towards some recent improvement in like-for-like sales despite the overall gloomy sales figures for the year as a whole. The company falls into the ‘reopening economy’ story that was so strong a year ago, but the shares fell relentlessly from March into October as reality failed to live up to inflated investor expectations. But recent signs of stabilization in the share price and indications of a recovery in the morning’s results may help the stock to claw back some losses.