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| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London close: FTSE helped higher by Direct Line, Bovis and Astrazeneca Shares closed higher on Thursday, extending earlier gains as investors sifted through corporate news that included well-received results from Bovis Homes, with Direct Line also lending support.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.58% to 7,396.98, while the DAX closed 0.67% higher to 12,296.63 and the CAC 40 was also up to 5,114.62.
Investors were digesting the latest figures from mortgage lender Halifax, which showed UK house prices rose more than expected in August.
House prices were up 1.1% from July, comfortably ahead of forecasts of a 0.2% gain. Prices were 2.6% higher on the year, beating expectations for a 2.1% increase, while the average house price rose to £222,293 from £219,918, and was above the previous high from December 2016 of £222,190.
Afternoon attention was very much focused on the European Central Bank rate decision at 1245 BST, followed by the press conference at 1330 BST.
Dissapointment came, however, in the form of a lack of clarity as to the tapering of the ECB's bond buying programme, which is due to end in December this year.
In the press conference, ECB President Mario Draghi gave no details with regards to the tapering, but did say that the bond buying programme is set to continue to December "or beyond if necessary."
ING economist Carsten Brzeski said: "Even though the ECB failed to present details of a game plan, the ECB's intentions are clear: prepare a very smooth tapering without pushing up interest rates and with as little further euro appreciation as possible."
On the corporate front, insurer Direct Line was on the front foot amid news that the government might be backtracking on its changes to the Ogden rate, which was cut to -0.75% from 2.5% in February, forcing most insurers into sizeable write-downs as the new rate meant they had to pay out more to personal injury claimants. The proposed changes would mean a rate of 0% to -1%.
Housebuilder Bovis Homes reported a 31% drop in first-half pre-tax profit but the shares rallied as investors welcomed a hike to the dividend, a special dividend and healthy margins as they put their faith in new chief executive Greg Fitzgerald. FTSE 100 peer Barratt Developments, which released its full-year results on Wednesday, also gained ground.
AstraZeneca rose after putting out a pair of positive respiratory updates from Phase III trials of combined treatment Duaklir and Phase IIb trials of tezepelumab.
Imperial Brands was up after agreeing to sell 13.275m ordinary shares of 20 euro cents each in Compañía De Distribución Integral Logista Holdings on the Madrid Stock Exchange, raising gross proceeds of £230.8m through the placing.
ZPG rallied as it announced a deal to buy financial services comparison website Money.co.uk in deal worth up to £140m.
On the downside, Go-Ahead Group slumped as it reported that pre-tax profit for the full year fell 5.7%, while Ashmore was in the red despite posting a rise in full-year profits as underlying profit growth fell short of expectations.
Capita was also under the cosh after it cuts its underlying operating profit for 2016 as it adopted new accounting standards, while Sanne retreated after the release of its first-half results.
RBS was in the red alonsgide it, amid calls for the full publication of a leaked report on the treatment of customers in its global restructuring group.
Admiral was weaker as it went ex-dividend, along with BHP Billiton and Land Securities, among others. |
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| Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,396.98 0.58%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,696.68 0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 3,458.45 1.13%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,463.00p 5.12%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,774.00p 4.32%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,672.00p 3.98%
GKN (GKN) 331.60p 3.24%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,300.00p 2.80%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 608.50p 2.18%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 379.60p 2.15%
Sage Group (SGE) 696.50p 2.13%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 8,190.00p 2.12%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,893.00p 2.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,838.00p -1.97%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,457.50p -1.82%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 637.50p -1.77%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 241.20p -1.39%
Royal Mail (RMG) 377.10p -1.36%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 740.50p -1.17%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 413.50p -1.01%
Barclays (BARC) 184.00p -1.00%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 884.00p -0.90%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,118.00p -0.80%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,161.00p 10.36%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 292.30p 4.63%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 391.90p 4.51%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,943.00p 4.07%
Indivior (INDV) 303.00p 3.48%
Rank Group (RNK) 230.70p 3.18%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,506.00p 3.04%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 365.20p 3.02%
IP Group (IPO) 117.40p 2.98%
Genus (GNS) 1,945.00p 2.67%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,550.00p -11.58%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 340.50p -6.76%
Vectura Group (VEC) 89.95p -5.32%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 732.50p -3.68%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 25.08p -3.58%
Evraz (EVR) 304.50p -3.36%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 208.00p -3.17%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 486.90p -2.91%
Capita (CPI) 628.50p -2.41% |
| | Market Analysis 06/09/2017 Today’s highlights: Global markets seen lower - Dow Jones drops more than 1%: Wall street reacted to the geopolitical tension caused by North KoreaÂ's hydrogen bomb test. Markets in the US closed lower yesterday, as the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones all registered significant losses.
- Asia seen lower: Markets in the East continued their negative trend, as leading indices such as the Nikkei and China50 were on the decline.
Read More... |
| | Europe Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Stocks rise despite euro strength Stocks ended near their best levels of the session even after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi appeared to take the possibility of deposit rate hikes next year off the table.
As expected, the ECB kept all its policy settings in place and opened the door to discussions on possibly further tapering its bond purchases when it next met, in October.
However, Draghi was emphatic that there would be no deposit facility interest rate hikes until after quantitative easing was wrapped up and according to economists that was unlikely to occur until the end of 2018 at the earliest.
Yet the euro managed to hold onto part of its gains for the session, adding 0.66% to 1.1997, although by the close it had come off the day's high at 1.2060.
Against that backdrop, the benchmark Stoxx 600 ended the session up by 0.27% or 1.0 points at 374.95, alongside gains of 0.67% or 82.09 points to 12,296.63 on Germany's Dax and a rise of 0.26% or 13.21 points to 5,114.62 for the Cac-40.
Hidden among those gains, the Stoxx 600's subindex of lenders' shares shed 0.77% to 175.74 as traders reacted to Draghi's comments on the outlook for rates
Indeed, much of the follow-up press conference from Draghi after Thursday's policy announcement centred on the strength in the euro.
Commenting on Draghi's press conference, Oliver Rakau at Oxford Economics commented: "Draghi confirmed that the bulk of decisions regarding the
recalibration of the asset purchase program will likely be taken at the October council meeting, earlier than some recent comments from ECB insiders had suggested.
"We continue to expect the ECB to reduce its monthly purchases to €40bn per month starting in January and not to commit to firm end date."
Also moving lower, although unrelated to the above, the US dollar was still on the defensive against the Japanese yen, retreating 0.62% to 108.54. In another risk-off move, gold futures on COMEX were 0.75% higher to $1,349.20/oz..
Losses in the greenback and gold came despite comments from Chinese officials that they were open to further sanctions against Pyongyang on account of its nuclear ballistic missile programme, albeit while again defending the need for dialogue with that country's dictator.
Despite, dollar/yen, often considered a good gauge of risk apettite, was at 108.51, down by 0.65%.
On the economic front, according to the Ministry of Finance, industrial production in Germany was flat in July, undershooting forecasts for a rise of 0.6%.
In parallel, data published in France's showed the country's trade shortfall with the rest of the world widened to -€6.0bn in July, up from -€4.8bn for June.
Still on the economic calendar for later on Thursday two Fedspeakers were set to hit the podium, including the new Fed vicechairman William Dudley at quarter past midnight and Kansas City Fed president Esther George roughly one hour afterwards.
In company news, Eicher Motors was plotting an up to $2bn bid for Volkswagen's Ducati unit, according to India's Economic Times.
United Airlines placed an order for a further 10 Airbus A350 jets. |
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| | US Market Report | | US open: Wall Street holds higher despite headwinds, Hurricane Irma Wall Street's major indices are holding their ground even in the face of the surprise resignation of US central bank vicepresident Stanley Fischer with even simmering worries about North Korea and Hurricane Irma failing to undermine investor sentiment.
At 1642 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.25% or 55.01 points at 21,809.85, alongside a gain of 0.23% or 5.76 points for the S & P 500 to 2,463.70 and a dip of 0.01% or 0.32 points on the Nasdaq Composite.
Indeed, traders seemed unpeturbed by the possibility that Fischer's resignation might imply, according to analysts at Capital Economics, that Janet Yellen will not opt to another term at the head of the central bank.
Broadly speaking, market participants also seemed unfazed by Hurricane Irma, which appeared to be on a track to strike Florida, with recent measurements pointing to wind speeds of up to 300km an hour.
However, investors in Property & Casualty insurers were already ducking for cover, with the sector the second-worst performer, trading lower by 3.22%. That was alongside losses for Coal (-3.25%), Non-ferrous metals (-1.86%), Financial Services (-1.72%) and Forestry & Paper (-1.69%).
In the background, it was all still about the Korean peninsula and its potential impact on markets.
On that note, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "There is clear concern about the escalating tensions between the US and North Korea which has culminated in repeated stints of risk off trading in recent weeks. With the increasingly frequent tests in North Korea triggering such moves, it's making traders a little more anxious than normal and it seems that for now, sitting on the side-lines is preferred.
"The verbal back and forth isn't helping matters, although it is having less of a negative impact than it was a few weeks ago. Should the tests in the North and military exercises in the South continue in the coming weeks, it is possible that traders start to pay less and less attention on the belief that this is as far as it will go. For now though, no such confidence clearly exists."
On the economic front, the ISM institute's non-manufacturing PMI came in at a reading of 55.3 for August, up from 53.9 in July (consensus: 55.6).
Still ahead later in the evening was the release of the US central bank's Beige Book, at 1900 BST.
In corporate news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise was lower even after its earnings out late on Tuesday beat estimates. |
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