Corporate earnings still vulnerable

The FTSE 100 has been stuck in a range of around 6000 to 6900 for most of this year. Although some of the reasons have been domestic such as rising interest rates, strong sterling, index changes and violent sector rotation, the major concern has been international. Uncertainty over global growth prospects and the extent of inflationary pressures continue to plague global markets due to their direct effect upon interest rates. In different parts of the world there have been conflicting trends over growth, with Europe strengthening and the US and Japan slowing. Although inflation remains...