Events, dear boy, events: how politics is making markets volatile

The goings-on in the White House and Westminster are having as much effect as economic indicators

Political events have always had an impact on the world's financial markets but rarely have they mattered quite so much as they do now.

Take two current examples. The latest news from Germany on Thursday was dire, with a plunge in factory orders adding to the risk of a technical recession - two successive quarters of negative growth. Normally, this would be a reason to sell German shares but the Frankfurt stock market was up.