Equities friendless ahead of Fed minutes

Heading into the close, the FTSE 100 is 50 points lower, as equities struggle once again.

-       Stock markets in retreat
-       Domino’s Pizza turns stale
-       USDJPY breaks higher

A small recovery in US markets at the beginning of the session is already beginning to fizzle out, while the US dollar is doing well ahead of Fed minutes, on the expectation that the account of the most recent meeting will show a committee still keen to raise rates. As has been the case for the week thus far, attention has focused mainly on sterling, thanks to the absence of heavy-hitting UK data. The pound continues to lose ground, testing the water below $1.22 again, although indications that the UK government may have to navigate Parliament before activating Article 50 have helped to stem downside in cable today.  It has been a miserable day for Domino’s Pizza on the FTSE 250, after a poor trading update this morning; against smaller, more nimble firms like Just Eat, Domino’s relatively narrow offering makes it look unimpressive versus the sheer variety on offer at its competitors.

In a quiet session the main event, Fed minutes, is still to come, and could yet reverse the weakness in equities and the relatively sparky performance of the dollar. Of particular note this afternoon  is a possible breakout in USDJPY, which is finally trying to move meaningfully above Y104. 2016 has been, by and large, a year of yen strength, but it will be music to Shinzo Abe’s ears if the Japanese currency finally begins to fall. After all, if the UK can do it, why not Japan?