The FTSE 100 comes under pressure
The UK stock market, after an encouraging start to 2010, is today under pressure amid concerns that the UK economy may well slip back into recession in the short term. After hitting a peak of just under 5500 in mid-January the market now stand at around 5275 with some investors concerned about the short-term outlook for UK stocks and shares.
Whether this is just a short-term correction after a relatively strong start to 2010 remains to be seen but a number of revelations over the last few days is not helping investor confidence. The original founder of Pimco, one of the largest bond traders in the world, yesterday suggested the UK was an area to avoid and the country was "sitting on a bed of nitroglycerine" which is the enormous debt that has been built up in recent months.
A number of observers had suggested that the recovery in the UK stock market was fragile to say the least and with the market down by around 70 points this morning these concerns appear to be coming to fruition. However, as we have seen over the last few months, investor confidence and investor sentiment can literally turn on a sixpence and with potential merger, takeover and other corporate activity on the horizon who knows how investors will react?
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