Brexit turmoil continues | Calamatta Cuschieri

European markets struggled Friday, finishing in the red and with chunky weekly losses, as concerns about the U.K.’s Brexit deal again hit top banks. The Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.2% lower, at 357.71, bringing the week’s losses to 2.2%. The French CAC 40 ended down 0.2%, at 5,025.20, with a weekly slip of 1.6%, while Germany’s DAX 30 wrapped up the day off 0.1% at 11,341. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.3% to finish at 7,013.88. It produced a weekly drop of 1.3%.

U.S. stocks closed mostly higher Friday after comments from President Donald Trump once again sparked hopes that a trade dispute with China could be resolved in the near term. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5% to 25,413.22 and the S&P 500 index rose 0.2% to 2,736.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed also 0.2%, to 7,247.87.

Theresa May seeks business support for Brexit plan

Theresa May is set to renew her efforts to sell her draft Brexit withdrawal agreement - saying it will stop EU migrants "jumping the queue". She will say migration will become skills-based, with Europeans no longer prioritized over "engineers from Sydney or software developers from Delhi". The prime minister will also insist to business leaders that her withdrawal deal has been "agreed in full". It comes as some Tory MPs continue to press for late changes to the deal.

Ministers from the remaining 27 EU countries are meeting in Brussels ahead of the deal being finalized on Sunday. They are working on the political declaration setting out their future relationship with the UK.

There has been widespread criticism of the draft 585-page withdrawal agreement - setting out what the UK and EU's future relationship could look like - which is set to be signed off at a summit this weekend.

Two of the prime minister's cabinet ministers resigned over the proposed deal, while others are believed to be trying to change its wording.

Speculation continues over whether the number of Tory MPs submitting letters of no-confidence in Mrs. May will reach the 48 required to trigger a confidence vote on her leadership.

Disclaimer: This article was issued by Nadiia Grech, junior trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.