Tuesday, 25 April: Equity markets continued Monday’s rally, albeit at a slower pace, with broad gains across European bourses. The FTSE 100 closed 0.15% higher, checked by mining stocks throughout the day. French shares on the CAC 40 closed 0.17% higher and as we write US shares are performing even better, with the Dow up over 1%.

Whitbread shares closed over 7% lower at the bottom of the FTSE 100, after a disappointing trading update. The Costa Coffee and Premier Inns owner citing difficult trading conditions going forward, yet they did manage a +6% dividend nudge. Carpetright posted a similarly gloomy update and their shares suffered similarly, closing over 8% lower.

Nestle has announced it will cut almost 300 jobs, mainly from the sites in York and Newcastle, moving production of their Blue Riband chocolate bar to existing Polish factories. Nestle have stated that this decision has nothing to do with the Brexit; if the cuts go ahead they will be within the next 2 years.

After beating analyst expectations McDonald’s shares have risen to record highs; profits grew 8% in Q1 to $1.2bn. Sales declined for the eleventh quarter in a row but this fall was less than the market had braced for. The fast food chain has seen shares rise YTD 15%, valuing McDonald’s at $115bn.