Brexit turmoil fails to hit market spirits

EUROPEAN shares were higher yesterday as a wave of optimism about the resilience of the global economy spread across markets despite the escalation of the USChina trade dispute and a new Brexit crisis within the British government.

Political turmoil in Westminster didn’t dampen spirits either, with the FTSE-100 jumping almost 1pc by the day’s end.

Positive jobs data in the United States on Friday reassured investors who have yet to witness a tangible slowdown due to the implementation of higher trade barriers.

“The actual trade tariffs are nothing new, the market has been aware of them for over a month, and for now conditions are still supportive for financial growth, allowing markets to move higher,” argued London Capital Group’s research team.

“Sentiment could remain resilient until we see solid evidence of these trade tensions feed through to softer economic data, particularly in China,” they added.

Data published yesterday also showed that German exports rebounded in May, “providing more evidence of a strengthening of the economy in the second quarter”, ING wrote.

Ireland’s Iseq Overall Index joined in the buoyant trading across Europe yesterday, edging 0.17pc higher by the end of the session, to 7.013.12. Shares in homebuilder Cairn fell 2pc to €1.74, while Greencoat Renewables was off 2.4pc at €1.02 on news of its share placing plan.

Gainers included insulation maker Kingspan, which advanced 1.4pc to €42.08.

Germany’s DAX was 0.38pc higher yesterday, while France’s CAC-40 gained 0.42pc.

Global miner BHP Billiton was a major mover on the British stock market, rising 2.6pc on speculation that BP could buy its US shale assets. BP slipped 1pc.