| | | | | | | | | |
| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London close: Barclays leads FTSE higher - FTSE closes up 42.81 points to 6,839.25
- ECB signals possible rate action in June
- MPC maintains bank rate
- Barclays unveils further job cuts
techMARK 2,807.39 +0.59%
FTSE 100 6,839.25 +0.63%
FTSE 250 15,968.51 +0.55%
The City ended today's session on a positive note, buoyed by speeches from both ECB President Mario Draghi and Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, in addition to a well-received strategy update from Barclays.
The FTSE 100 closed up 42.81 points to 6,839.25.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi left the door wide open to possible policy action come the June meeting of the Governing Council.
"The Governing Council is comfortable with acting next time, but before we want to see the staff projections that will come out in the early June," Draghi told journalists.
"Central bankers seem to be doing their (unintended) best to talk up global equity indices at present, as first Janet Yellen and then Mario Draghi uttered words that served to soothe the frayed nerves of traders," Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst at IG, explained to clients.
"Yellen succeeded at her complex game of Q&A dodge-ball, carefully tiptoeing around the question of when the first rate hike would take place. Today, Mario Draghi effectively signalled some sort of action in June to fight the ongoing menace of low inflation in the Eurozone."
For its part, Capital Economics said: "A small cut in the main refinancing rate seems like the least that the Bank could do and is unlikely to be particularly effective. Bolder policy action, perhaps including asset purchases, should not be far off."
Back in the UK, today´s meeting the Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) saw members vote to maintain the Bank Rate at 0.5% and leave the stock of purchased assets financed by the issuance of central bank reserves unchanged at £375bn.
However, Capital Economics was of the opinion that while the MPC may feel comfortable to allow the Financial Policy Committee to tackle the strength of the housing market, the benign inflation outlook suggests that tighter monetary policy is still not a near-term prospect.
In other UK macro news, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported the seasonally adjusted house price balance at 54, down from the 57 seen in March and below expectations of 55.
"House prices in general look set to remain firmly on the upward trend, although interestingly, there are some tentative signs that the price momentum in the London market may begin to slow in the second half of the year," said RICS's Chief Economist Simon Rubinsohn.
US weekly unemployment claims drop by 26,000 to 319,000
Over in the States, initial weekly unemployment claims in the US dropped by 26,000 over the seven days ending on May 3rd, to reach 319,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The consensus estimate had been for a reading of 325,000.
Meanwhile, an easing of tensions in Eastern Europe also helped to lift sentiment on Wall Street after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a proposed regional referendum in Ukraine to be postponed.
Barclays job cuts lift City spirits and blue chips
Barclays led London's blue chips higher after it pleased the City with plans to slash 14,000 jobs in 2014 across the group as it aimed to become a "leaner, stronger" bank.
In what it described as a "bold simplification" of the group, Barclays said it planned to cut 7,000 jobs from its Investment Bank by 2016, as part of a wider restructuring, which will see the bank focus on four core businesses; Personal and Corporate Banking, Barclaycard, Africa Banking and the Investment Bank.
After falling initially, supermarket chain Morrison bounced back to second in the leaderboard, recovering much of Wednesday's share price losses, as investors were encouraged by bullish tone of its first-quarter statement. The grocer held on to its full-year targets despite a 4.2% drop in total sales and a 7.1% fall in like-for-like sales. Chief Executive Dalton Philips said its March price-cutting strategy was "on track", but would "take time for their full impact to be felt".
Sector peer Tesco also made strong gains.
At the opposite end of the chart were shares in Sage, the accountancy software player, after long-running boss Guy Berruyer surprised by announcing he planned to retire by March 2015. This seemed to far overshadow a 5% increase in half-year revenue, driven by strong growth in software subscriptions.
Energy company Centrica, owner of British Gas in the UK and Direct Energy in the US, was another notable faller as it downgraded guidance for full-year earnings. Milder weather hit consumption in the UK downstream business, with a highly competitive supply environment adding further headwinds. Full-year UK residential energy supply revenue is expected to be around 10% below 2013 levels and post-tax margins are expected to be around 4% this year.
On the second tier, fashion retailer SuperGroup saw its shares plummet today after reporting a steep slowdown in sales growth in the fourth quarter and saying full-year profits would be at the lower end of expectations, while Perform impressed with strong revenue growth in the first quarter and the appointment of a respected new Chief Financial Officer. |
| | iPad mini worth £269 for new trading accounts! | | A minimum volume is required. Terms and conditions apply. Find out more, click here. |
|
FTSE 100 - Risers
Barclays (BARC) 262.45p +7.87%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 198.90p +4.25%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 901.50p +3.44%
Tesco (TSCO) 295.00p +3.13%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,400.00p +2.91%
BT Group (BT.A) 387.60p +2.87%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 449.40p +2.86%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 404.60p +2.64%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,523.00p +2.63%
Old Mutual (OML) 208.00p +2.41%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Sage Group (SGE) 399.50p -5.33%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,530.00p -3.68%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,388.00p -2.32%
Centrica (CNA) 320.40p -1.96%
Meggitt (MGGT) 475.30p -1.53%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,205.00p -1.29%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 96.70p -1.23%
Fresnillo (FRES) 810.00p -1.22%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,730.00p -0.86%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,641.00p -0.85%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Perform Group (PER) 250.00p +6.84%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 64.10p +4.65%
Pace (PIC) 377.30p +4.43%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 162.40p +3.70%
Diploma (DPLM) 699.00p +3.63%
3i Group (III) 384.00p +2.98%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 252.50p +2.94%
Laird (LRD) 285.80p +2.88%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 349.80p +2.76%
Interserve (IRV) 674.50p +2.74%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Supergroup (SGP) 1,179.00p -12.54%
Keller Group (KLR) 975.00p -3.66%
Partnership Assurance Group (PA.) 125.00p -2.72%
Afren (AFR) 161.10p -2.42%
Amec (AMEC) 1,208.00p -2.27%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 290.00p -2.03%
Hunting (HTG) 832.50p -2.00%
Michael Page International (MPI) 459.00p -1.84%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,708.00p -1.56%
De La Rue (DLAR) 815.50p -1.45% |
| | PROVEN Trading Strategy - Currently running at 70% success rate | | Earn a tax free income trading, from just 20 minutes a day – no experience needed. Our powerful trading software will help you decide when to enter trades and how to maximise profits.
Register for a FREE brochure and trading guide, Click Here. |
| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Banks lead gains after Draghi breaks rise in euro - European stocks hold higher
- No action expected from ECB
- Donetsk to vote on independence May 11th
- Euro nearly unchanged at 1.3925
FTSE 100: 0.63%
Dax 30: 0.90%
Cac 50: 1.37%
FTSE Mibtel 30: 2.30%
Ibex 35: 1.70%
Stoxx 600: 1.05%
The main European equity benchmarks finished the Thursday session firmly higher following the surprisingly 'dovish' remarks out from the European Central Bank´s President, Mario Draghi.
In the question-and-answer session following today´s decision to keep all of the ECB´s main policy settings unchanged Draghi said that: “The Governing Council is comfortable with acting next time, but before we want to see the staff projections that will come out in the early June.”
That would seem to indicate a very clear possibility that the central bank will indeed ease policy again at its next meeting, although there is still some debate amongst economists as to just how aggressive any such move will be.
Be that as it may, the euro ended the day 0.34% lower at 1.3864.
Yields on 10-year Italian bonds were moving lower by six basis points to 2.95% as of 16:51 and those on their Spanish counterparts were down by another eight basis points, at 2.89%.
Acting as a backdrop, concrete steps where outlined to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine at the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the OSCE´s Chairman, primarily through increased dialogue between the authorities in Kiev and those representing the separatists in the countrys southeast, Interfax cited Putin as having said.
Moscow will study said roadmap from the OSCE, the same agency reported. However, later in the day it became known that the city of Donetsk still plans to go ahead with a referendum on independence on May 11th.
At today´s meeting the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain Bank Rate at 0.5% and the stock of purchased assets financed by the issuance of central bank reserves unchanged at 375bn pounds.
That came as HSBC said it was on alert for the Bank of England to intervene in the housing sector amid growing concern that a collapse in the booming London market could threaten Britain's economic recovery, The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday morning.
Data out overnight showed a surprise 0.9% year-on-year rise in Chinese exports for the month of April, well ahead of the 3% monthly drop which analysts had penciled in.
Banks lead gains
Spanish petrochemical giant Repsol unveiled a 1.5% increase in quarterly adjusted net income to €532m; that came in well ahead of analysts´ forecasts.
Shares in Vallourec, the French manufacturer of steel pipes for the oil and gas industry, advanced 3% after unveiling first-quarter earnings that came in ahead of analysts´ estimates.
Tiremaker Pirelli came out with profit figures which fell short of market projections.
From a sector stand-point the best performance was to be seen in the following industrial groups: Real estate (2.04%) and Real estate (1.65%).
Weak industrial production figures in Germany
Industrial production in Germany decreased by 0.5% month-on-month in March, according to the Federal Office of Statistics.
The consensus estimate had been for a gain of 0.2% over the month (4.2% year-on-year).
Euro steady at 1.3940
Front month Brent crude futures were down 0.343% at $107.76/barrel on the ICE.
The single currency was 0.34% lower at 1.3864 versus the US dollar by the close of trading. |
| | UKs booming asset class... | | Get 10% fixed returns for 10 years and see why the care home investment market is about to boom. Our unique opportunity in The Calder Valley is one not to be missed Register your details here to receive your FREE brochure |
| | US Market Report | | US open: Stocks rise after drop in jobless claims - Jobless claims fall 26,000, more than forecast
- ECB, BoE keep policy unchanged
- Tesla drops on guidance
Dow Jones: 0.35%
Nasdaq: 0.57%
S&P 500: 0.41%
US stocks pushed higher on Thursday morning after data showed that claims for unemployment benefits dropped by more than expected last week.
Initial US jobless claims for the week ended May 3rd fell by 26,000 to 319,000, below the consensus forecast of 325,000. The previous week's reading was revised higher by 1,000 to 345,000.
Following several weeks of volatility due to the later-than-usual timing of Easter, the Labor Department said there were no special factors impacting the data.
The decent start in New York, which saw benchmark indices rise around 0.4-0.6% early on, helped bring the Dow Jones Industrial Average within touching distance of its all-time high of 16,580.84 reached on April 30th.
Stocks were also tracking gains on the other side of the Atlantic today after both the European Central Bank and Bank of England kept monetary policy on hold, as expected.
Meanwhile, an easing of tensions in Eastern Europe also helped to lift sentiment on Wall Street after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a proposed regional referendum in Ukraine to be postponed.
Tesla, SolarCity
Electric vehicle maker Tesla was a heavy faller despite beating first-quarter earnings estimates as the company disappointed with its near-term outlook. The group said it expected the second quarter to be "marginally profitable".
Revenues more than doubled in the first quarter at SolarCity, ahead of estimates, causing shares to rise strongly early on.
West Texas Intermediate futures were down 0.43% at $100.34 a barrel on the NYMEX.
The yield on at 10-year Treasury yield was up two basis points at 2.61%. |
| | Losing Interest? | | You could earn more with a Stocks & Shares ISA. Grab a ready-made package or pick your own at The Share Centre.
Capital at risk. Tax benefits of ISAs may change. |
| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: Barclays, HSBC, Sage, WM Morrison Investec has applauded Barclays' Group Strategy Update on Thursday, after the bank announced a new round of jobs cuts, mainly in its investment bank (IB), as part of its 'bold simplification'.
"Barclays is already a low-risk, profitable bank, but today's 'reset' is about rightsizing the bank to reflect a smaller addressable IB revenue pool and to deliver improved/sustainable returns," he said.
UBS has lowered its target for HSBC from 665p to 630p and kept a 'neutral' rating following the bank's first-quarter results, saying that it is still waiting on revenue momentum to resume.
"For HSBC to re-rate we continue to believe it will need to see an end of de-leveraging and a return of revenue growth at a group level," UBS said.
Sage's first-half results were more or less in line with forecasts, but currency headwinds and the departure of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Guy Berruyer are causes for concern, according to Numis Securities.
"It feels like currency headwinds will push numbers down 2-3% which, coupled with the CEO departure and the relatively full […] rating, means we think the shares could be slightly down on these results," said the broker, which maintained a 'hold' rating and 420p target for the accountancy software stock.
Shore Capital Stockbrokers remains a seller of WM Morrison after the supermarket's first-quarter update showed that "dire trading persists".
"With such weak trading, we cannot yet call whether or not we have come to the end of the downgrade cycle for Morrison's. Additionally, we are not yet confident that the contagion of gross margin investment by the supermarkets has come to an end. Until the point it is reached it is equally challenging to be more positive on the group's shares, we reiterate our 'sell' recommendation." | | |
New ADVFN Service - FREE Reports Get your free report on Isa's, Investment Trusts, Funds,
Sipps Travel and Cars - FREE and Easy service CLICK HERE
To advertise in the Euro Markets Bulletin please contact patrick@advfn.co.uk |
| | | | | | | To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click here. Registered Office/Accounts Dept: Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre, The Gable, Fyfield Road, Ongar, CM5 0GA. Customer Support +44 (0) 207 0700 961. Company registered in England and Wales: Number 2374988 VAT No. GB 549 2130 49 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment