WASHINGTON: U.S. stock futures and the pound fell slightly Sunday after a terrorist attack in London, and ahead of a busy week in markets across the world. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both fell about 0.14% Sunday evening, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11%. “Unfortunately these events are happening with such frequency investors have become numb and don’t respond as they did several years ago,” David Nelson, chief strategist of Belpointe Asset Management, said in an email. “The effects are generally transitory.” The pound also dropped about 0.2% against the dollar to $1.286 Sunday. The currency has fallen in recent weeks as polls tightened ahead of Thursday’s snap election.
Immediate currency fluctuations are “more of a reflection of expectations of whether or not [Theresa] May wins a bigger majority,” TS Lombard managing director Steven Blitz said Sunday. Compounding uncertainty about a potential hung parliament is Brexit negotiations, scheduled to begin June 19. Britain’s main political parties, led by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour head Jeremy Corbyn, suspended campaigning after the terrorist attack late Saturday. May said Sunday morning that normal campaigning will resume Monday, and the election will go ahead on Thursday as planned. Also scheduled for Thursday are the European Central Bank’s meeting, weekly jobless claims and former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
