FTSE shrugs off sell-off in US and Asia

The FTSE 100 was off to a solid start on Wednesday morning, up by 0.72% at the time of writing at 7,078.80.

“If investing is often about climbing a wall of worry, then market participants arguably face the equivalent of the Matterhorn right now but on Wednesday investors seemed to be undaunted,” says AJ Bell investment director.

This is despite a big sell-off in Asia and the US overnight, with tech stocks leading the way down.

“The global energy crisis is really just the latest manifestation of a wider shortage of stuff as demand has flooded back in the wake of the pandemic,” Mould adds.

Then you have specific pressure points like the crisis around Chinese property developer Evergrande and the latest in what feels like a series of periodic battles over the debt ceiling in the US.

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“Against this uncertain backdrop central banks are having to weigh up inflation risks which, like chewing gum on the sole of a shoe, are proving stickier than they’d hoped.”

To counter the threat posed by rising prices they face the prospect of dialling down economic support at a time of mounting uncertainty over the recovery.

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Next (3.04%), Ferguson (2.42%) and Segro (2.4%) are leading the way on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday morning.

Royal Mail (-5.4%), Admiral and Smith (-2.04%) and Nephew (-1.5%), have not fared so well so far, as the trailing three companies on the UK index.