Outside of the Nasdaq, which continues to rally, equities are under pressure, although strength in durable goods orders have helped limit the downside.
- Dow stumbles after 3M results
- Tech stocks still strong
- Still no sign of a new Brexit vote
Microsoft has topped $1 trillion in valuation, and durable goods orders rebounded strongly in March according to today’s figures, helping to counter the sudden jump in US jobless claims. But with the figure still close to a half-century low, this small turnaround should not yet concern investors. US markets are struggling, but outside of the Dow, weighed down by 3M’s numbers, the losses are relatively contained. The underperformance of the small-cap Russell 2000 appears to be exciting all the usual bears, but the small size of the index, whose market cap is less than a third of the Dow’s, means its usefulness as a predictor of future market action is limited. Far better is the steady rise
in Microsoft, which has enjoyed a good set of earnings and exemplifies the ongoing rebound in risk appetite.
The UK government has come back from its Easter holidays without, it seems, completing its homework. Two weeks of space have not led to any breakthrough in the UK’s thinking, and it looks unlikely that another vote on the Withdrawal Agreement will be forthcoming. Understandably, everyone seems reluctant to disturb the blissful calm of the past two weeks, but the clock is still ticking, and this state of affairs is unlikely to do much for sterling.
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