UK shares are holding up well

The FTSE 100 is holding up quite well given the current context of uncertainty and the recent set of disappointing statistics. The FTSE 100 was just slightly down 0.1% this morning, despite data showing that China’s exports contracted faster than expected and that British house prices continue to fall.

Miners and energy stocks are underperforming due to China demand concerns, and so are housebuilders after Halifax revealed that house prices in the UK dropped on an annual basis in May for the first time in 11 years, by 1.0% compared with May last year.

In other news, Reuters reported that Vodafone and CK Hutchison are very close to announce the merging of their British operations, as soon as Friday or early next week. The deal could be valued at around 15 billion pounds.

Among stocks, Croda International lost 2.3% after Goldman Sachs lowered its recommendation to "neutral" from "buy".

 

Things to read today:

Nvidia’s rally forces money managers to play catch-up (Financial Times)

Who Is Brian Armstrong? Coinbase CEO Is Taking On the SEC (WSJ)