At the close: Sterling stable and FTSE 100 fizzes
Markets ended the day on the up as the moratorium in the EU referendum campaign allowed markets to compose themselves ahead of what is certain to be one of the most volatile weeks since the financial crisis.
The FTSE 100 recovered some lost ground to close above the benchmark 6,000 point mark – but only just. The bluchip index finished up 1.2 per cent at 6,021.
Sterling also put its best foot forward, with no EU referendum polls to rock the boat. The currency stood at $1.4266 by the time the stock markets closed, 0.4 per cent better than yesterday.
"Markets have stepped back from the cliff edge. A brighter finish has left European benchmarks only narrowly lower for the week. Banks, particularly debt-laden peripheral European and Brexit-exposed UK banks were ruling the roost," said Jasper Lawler, analyst at CMC Markets.
[stockChart code="UKX" date="2016-06-17 16:56"]
Today it was the turn of the American markets to play the loser with sharp losses on the Dow – down 0.6 per cent to 17,620 – and the S&P 500, also off 0.6 per cent to 2,064. That was after "ultra-dovish comments from the traditionally hawkish St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard", according to Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.
Oil prices also advanced, with Brent Crude marching on $50 a barrel once again, gaining three per cent at $48.59.
Sterling and the FTSE 100 are both hovering around the levels 12 experts polled by Morning Wire suggested they would settle at before the EU referendum.