The German, French and Spanish stock markets are down again today, amid the fourth wave of coronavirus infections, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index has edged 0.2% higher to 7,283 and Italy’s FTSE MiB is 0.3% ahead at 27,016.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq is trading 1.15% lower while the S&P 500 has lost 0.6% and the Dow Jones has slipped 0.26%.
The US economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the third quarter, up from the 2% estimated previously, but this represents a sharp slowdown from the previous quarter’s 6.7% growth, with consumers spending less. Durable goods were much weaker than expected. On a brighter note, initial jobless claims fell to 199,000 in the week to 20 November, the lowest since 1969.
