It’s been a relatively quiet start to the week, which is usually the case in the week that follows US jobs. Last week the UK ramped up growth forecasts and the US smashed job expectation figures for January. Alongside this we had both the BoE and Fed unsurprisingly hold rates. With little data flow the FTSE made no meaningful moves throughout the day, but eventually turned negative in the late afternoon to close 0.22% lower. Miners helped the main index early on, after a positive update from Randgold Resources, which saw the firm’s shares sit atop the index for day, closing just over 4% higher.

Ryanair, the airline that 60% of the time is always on time, saw shares fall after Q3 net profit dropped c.8%. Average fares fell by 17% in the period as a result of competition in the European airline sector. They’ve also cited problems of being ‘too nice’ in regards to customers and baggage allowances that have resulted in more delays. So basically Ryanair have just been letting us get away with it recently. ‘’Give them an inch……’’ – Shares finished the day 4.2% lower.

After closing at an all time high on Friday the NASDAQ has began the week completely flat as we write, American shares lacking any real direction at this point across the board. Looking at the week ahead it’s a busy week for major company earnings, Trump is due to meet Japan’s president Abe on Friday and parliament’s lower house will conclude the Article 50 debate on Wednesday.