The weekend is over and European stocks are still slipping
As the trading week begins, investors are still grappling with the uncertainty over what the UK's historic vote means for its economy and the rest of the world. In Britain, growing crises in both the Conservative and Labour parties are adding to the uncertainty being felt across the markets.
However, stocks across Europe are only marginally lower on Monday morning, as the initial panic which gripped the markets on Friday seems to have subsided a little. Some fears have been soothed by a statement by Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne earlier on Monday, in which Britain's most senior economic policy maker reassured the markets that the British economy remains on a solid footing.
"I want to reassure the British people and the international community that Britain is in a position of strength because over the last six years, we have worked hard to rebuild the British economy."
As a result, the FTSE 100 is lower by around 0.4% at 8:25 a.m. BST (3:10 a.m. ET) although it should be noted that Britain's blue-chip index is disproportionately filled with companies that denominate their assets in dollars, and as a result not hugely affected by the massive drop in the pound that has hit since Brexit.
Here's the chart of how the FTSE 100 looks this morning:
On an individual basis, the stocks performing best on the day are largely mining firms, with Rio Tinto higher by 1.44% on the day, while Glencore is o.81% up.
At the other end of the tables, EasyJet, the budget airline has dropped more than 7%, while banking and housebuilding stocks are continuing to take a pounding, with Barclays, Lloyds, and RBS all lower by around 5%.
Elsewhere on the continent, stocks are broadly lower, although losses are marginal. The exception is in Spain, where the country's benchmark IBEX 35 index higher more than 2.8%, rallying on a better than expected performance from the conservative People's Party (PP) in elections over the weekend. Populist party Podemos did not win as many seats as expected in the elections, which boosted investor sentiment. Here's how the IBEX looks on Monday morning:
Here is the scoreboard for the rest of the continent:
- Germany's DAX - 0.03% higher to 9,557 points
- France's CAC 40 - 0.16% down to 4,100 points
- Italy's FTSE MIB - 0.69% higher to 15,833 points
- Euro Stoxx 50 - 0.30% higher to 2,788 points
Earlier markets in Asia rallied as stock investors reverted to the well-worn path of "buying the dip," hoovering stocks across most major indices in the region following the carnage on Friday.
The gains were led by the Nikkei 225 in Japan which surged by 2.39%, helping to reclaim around a quarter of the losses seen on Friday.
Like the Nikkei, stocks in China were also bid from the outset, rising steadily as the session progressed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished the session with a gain of 1.45%, partially boosted by comforting words from Chinese premier Li earlier in the day.