And the winner is? Check out the FTSE 100 this morning

If you look across all the major global stock markets since this time yesterday morning, before European and US equity trading got underway, there is something that really stands out. That is the performance of the FTSE 100. Of course the index did take a hit yesterday, but by comparison to all its peers in Europe and the US that hit was not at all substantial. The FTSE 100 closed 1.55% lower, handing back 133 points, closing at 8,474.74. That outperformance was actually even more impressive when one considers the slide in Oil prices and the surge to above 1.32 at one point in the GBP/USD. So, in that sense it is pretty hard to explain, but there is no doubt the index escaped the worst of the wider stock market fallout. We can only put that down to the 10% levy on UK exports, which was the best of the bunch in relative terms (along with Australia). The FTSE also seems to be clinging to the hope that the UK will manage to arrive at a trade deal with the US. That is by no means certain though, but clearly a positive for the time being. The FTSE 100 is currently priced to open a little lower this morning though, right now around 8,440