Yahoo Finance FTSE falls as UK's third wave begins to ease
European stocks kicked the week off on a cautious note digesting news from the weekend that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the UK has continued to fall.
The numbers suggest that the UK has passed the top of its third wave of infections, with 29,173 positive cases were recorded on Sunday, down from a peak of almost 50,000 a week ago, according to the rolling average.
The seven-day average of hospital admissions and deaths continued to rise, however showing the knock-on effects of rising loads over the past month.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was 0.3% down by the afternoon in London. Over in Europe, the CAC (^FCHI) also fell 0.3% and the DAX (^GDAXI) moved 0.5% lower.
Equities fell despite reports that the UK's economy is growing at the fastest rate in 80 years. EY's Item club said it expects GDP to grow by 7.6% – which would be the fastest annual growth in national income since 1941.
US stock futures also pointed to either muted moves or declines at the opening bell later. The S&P 500 (ES=F) looked set to open 0.3% lower, Dow (YM=F) futures were 0.4% lower and the Nasdaq (NQ=F) lookeed set to open 0.2% by afternoon in London.
"The big dilemma for the Fed will be how they can balance the hawkish commentary with a dovish stance," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. "If we look at the dollar index or Treasury bond yields, there are signs that the extra loose monetary policy is about to run its course, and the Fed is more likely to tighten the monetary policy sooner than later."
Read more: Could ethereum overtake bitcoin?
Despite caution in equities markets, bullish moves returned in cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin (BTC-USD) heading 12% higher in early trade. Market sentiment turned positive after Amazon (AMZN) looked set to line up payments in the digital token.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei (^N225) closed more than 1% higher, as the Olympics launched into full swing.
Meanwhile, stocks in China and Hong Kong took a hammering. The Hang Seng (^HSI) closed 3.5% lower, while the SSE Composite (000001.SS) was down 2.4%.
The moves marked one of the worst retreats this year as Beijing continued its tech sector crackdown.
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