Friday, 18th October: The FTSE 100 fell by 0.25% in the opening trade on two separate issues. You probably already guessed that one of these is Brexit, but the other was fears surrounding a slowdown in China’s economy. Chinese GDP growth dropped to 6.0%, which was more than expected during the Q3 period. The major indices across the pond all opened lower too, but still looked likely to close higher on the week after an ease in U.S-China trade tensions.
At the very bottom of the blue-chip index was InterContinental Hotels Group, down more than 3.0% following an unimpressive Q3 update. The luxury-focused hotel group experienced difficult trading conditions particularly in the U.S and China. Comparable revenue per available room in Q3 fell by 0.8%, and although they remain confident in their ability to achieve their desired financial results for the full 12-month period, the market’s reaction remained cautious.
Anti-government protests in Hong Kong caused a particular hit to the operations, as they experienced a 36% fall in revenue per room there due to a significant drop in business travellers and tourists in general due to the political turbulence.
Over the weekend parliament will vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal he agreed with the EU. The outcome could be one of a few, as always. Parliament could accept, reject, or accept with the attachment of a confirmatory second referendum, with the latter two likely to cause another extension to the deadline which currently stands at 31st October.
At the end of the day the FTSE 100 closed 0.44% lower at 7150.57, and 1.33% lower in comparison to last Friday. At the same time, GBP/USD was 0.20% higher at $1.289 and 1.9% higher in comparison to last Friday.