Risk aversion is pushing investors towards gold, the Japanese yen and the Swiss Franc. Money is moving out of the markets as investors await Thursday for the UK election and the ECB meeting.
Concerns over the upcoming testimony of former FBI director James Comey to the senate which could decide if US President Donald Trump survives his first term.
All of these concerns are over riding a jump in eurozone investor confidence which showed investor morale has hit a 10-year high. Sentix has reported that the monthly gauge of investor morale has risen to 28.4 points this month, up from 27.4 in May. With investors believing the current economic situation has improved, and they’re also more optimistic about the future.
And retail spending in the UK fell last month according to the British Retail Consortium – as consumers begin to feel the inflation squeeze. It said like-for-like retail sales dropped by 0.4% in May, down from 0.5% growth last year. Online sales of non-food products also slumped to the lowest level since records began in 2012, growing by 4.3% last month compared to a 13.7% jump in 2016.
