Morning Euro Markets Bulletin

ADVFN  Morning Euro Markets Bulletin Daily world financial news Wednesday, 21 February 2018 10:28:30 Monitor Quote Charts News CFD's Compare Brokers Free BB   Get Your FREE Weekly Bitcoin Newsletter From Guardian Stockbrokers Click Here To Subscribe For FREE Today All trading involves risk. Losses can exceed deposits. London open: Stocks tick down ahead of jobs data; Lloyds rallies on results FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Please click on the images to view our interactive charts London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Wednesday, taking their cue from Wall Street as investors eyed key UK jobs data, although earnings from Lloyds and Glencore were a bright spot. At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,237.34, while the pound was flat against the euro at 1.1341 and down 0.1% versus the dollar at 1.3976. UK average earnings, the claimant count and the ILO unemployment rate are due at 0930 GMT, while Bank of England governor Mark Carney is set to make a speech at 1415 GMT. In the US, the latest FOMC minutes are out at 1900 GMT. London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said: "Expectations are for earnings growth to remain constant in the three months to December at 2.5%. Given that inflation is elevated at 3%, wage growth data takes on an even more important role in the eyes of the market. As inflation moved higher following the weakening of the pound, post Brexit referendum, wage growth hasn’t kept pace. This means that wages have actually been falling in real terms, squeezing the UK consumer, which in turn is leading to a slowdown in spending. "Negative real earnings growth is a key factor as to why the BoE has shown caution over raising interest rates. Hiking too quickly can actually dampen wage growth further, the opposite effect of what the central bank is looking for. Therefor investors will be watching the figures carefully to see whether the squeeze on the consumer is increasing or receding." Jasper said that should wages surprise on the upside, the possibility of the BoE raising rates in spring - which currently stands at 65% - will increase. This would support GBP/USD and send it back over $1.40 towards resistance at $1.4025. In corporate news, Lloyds Banking Group rose despite missing expectations on full-year profit, as it announced a £1bn share buyback and increased its annual dividend by a fifth. Housebuilder Barratt Developments was also in the black as it posted a record first-half profit thanks to strong demand, whileGlencore gained after it declared a $2.9bn dividend to be paid out in two equal instalments in 2018 as profits surged higher and it looked confidently to the future. On the downside, roadside assistance company AA tanked after warning on profits and slashing its dividend as it swerved down a new strategic route. Metro Bank lost ground even as it reported record results and its first annual profit, as underlying pre-tax profit of £20.8m - compared to a loss of £11.7m in 2016 - fell short of expectations of £30m. Unite Group slipped as it launched a £170m placement to fund two near university projects and said pre-tax profit rose 14% in the year to the end of December. Capital & Counties retreated after it said its Earls Court interests were now valued at 1bn, down from £1.1bn in 2016, and posted a drop in full-year revenues to £87.7m from £94m. Hochschild Mining was in the red as it reported a drop in full-year earnings on the back of higher costs and increased investment in brownfield exploration, but said production is expected to double this year. FirstGroup was under the cosh after saying annual earnings are expected to be slightly lower, while Polymetal ticked down as it signed its first offtake contract for Kyzyl concentrate. In broker note action, BT was upgraded to 'hold' at Deutsche Bank, while 3i Infrastructure was lifted to 'buy' at Jefferies, but HSBC was cut to 'hold' by Societe Generale.   Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,237.34 -0.13% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,768.50 -0.17% techMARK (TASX) 3,333.84 -0.13% FTSE 100 - Risers Barratt Developments (BDEV) 576.00p 2.45% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 68.84p 1.46% Glencore (GLEN) 388.85p 1.16% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,980.00p 0.88% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 743.30p 0.85% Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 277.00p 0.76% BT Group (BT.A) 232.52p 0.74% Persimmon (PSN) 2,480.00p 0.61% National Grid (NG.) 752.20p 0.56% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 191.95p 0.47% FTSE 100 - Fallers Shire Plc (SHP) 3,019.00p -1.74% WPP (WPP) 1,378.00p -1.57% Halma (HLMA) 1,206.00p -0.99% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,096.00p -0.88% BAE Systems (BA.) 590.93p -0.82% British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,458.50p -0.77% BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,480.20p -0.68% Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,963.50p -0.68% GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,316.40p -0.65% Ferguson (FERG) 5,204.00p -0.61% FTSE 250 - Risers Fidessa Group (FDSA) 3,640.00p 1.96% 3i Infrastructure (3IN) 200.99p 1.82% Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 257.87p 1.13% Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,232.00p 0.98% Bellway (BWY) 3,158.52p 0.98% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 638.75p 0.91% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,295.00p 0.82% Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 295.60p 0.82% Vectura Group (VEC) 77.96p 0.66% Softcat (SCT) 578.76p 0.65% FTSE 250 - Fallers Dunelm Group (DNLM) 563.50p -2.59% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,995.00p -2.01% Rotork (ROR) 287.40p -1.41% Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,560.00p -1.39% SIG (SHI) 149.90p -1.19% Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 275.80p -1.11% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 423.69p -1.01% Balfour Beatty (BBY) 273.20p -0.94% Cineworld Group (CINE) 243.60p -0.90% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 622.00p -0.89% Atlantic Advisory - Share Tips of the Year 2018 Download Our Latest Report Here Losses can exceed deposits Europe open: Stocks dip on weak PMIs, ECB succession in focus FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Stocks have begun the morning drifting lower, weighed down by a weaker close on Wall Street overnight as investors wait for the release of the minutes of the US central bank's last policy meeting for any signs that rate-setters in Washington might shift towards a more 'hawkish' stance. Also weighing on sentiment, two key surveys of factory and service sector conditions in France and Germany for the month of February fell slightly short of the mark. As of 0951 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was trading 0.38% or 1.46 points lower at 379.05, alongside a dip of 0.34% or 18.02 points to 5,371.85 on the Cac-40 and a retreat of 0.56% or 124.55 points to 22,549.01 on the FSTE Mibtel. In Germany, IHS Markit's composite output index for the country's manufacturing and services sector slipped from a reading of 59.0 for January to 57.4 in February (consensus: 58.0) - a three month low. It was a similar story in France, with the equivalent gauge retreating from 59.6 last month to 57.8 (consensus: 59.2). Commenting on the German data, Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics highlighted how new orders subindices for both the factory and services sectors "fell noticeably compared to the brisk pace seen in the previous month", albeit adding that both remained "strong". "Momentum in new export orders, for example, dipped to a 12-month low, indicating a 10% year-on-year appreciation of the euro is curbing external demand, at the margin," Vistesen said. To take note of, according to Handelsblatt, German officials hoped that their support for Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos to take up the vice-presidency at the European Central bank sets the stage for the Bundesbank's Jens Weidmann to become president when Mario Draghi's tenure expires. Against that backdrop, the yield on the benchmark 10-year German bund was down four basis points at 0.70% while euro/dollar was down 0.15% to 1.2320. For later in the day, investors were keen to see if the latest set of Fed minutes would validate expectations for a faster pace of policy tightening in the wake of the approval of the White House's tax cut plans. Over in the corporate space, Volkswagen was in the headlines after reaching an agreement with the IG Metall union. Deutsche Boerse was also in the headlines after posting a 26% jump in net profits for the three months to December. Top of the stocks Number of Deals Bought Place EPIC Equity name % 1 BT.A BT Group plc 6.74 2 VOD Vodafone Group plc 6.12 3 GSK GlaxoSmithKline plc 5.84 4 SMT Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust 2.02 5 MKS Marks & Spencer Group plc 1.93 6 FRCL Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust plc 1.69 7 UU. United Utilities Group Plc 1.65 8 LLOY Lloyds Banking Group plc 1.51 9 BLND British Land Co plc 1.08 10 LGEN Legal & General Group plc 1.08 Number of Deals Sold Place EPIC Equity name % 1 RMG Royal Mail PLC 1.70 2 LLOY Lloyds Banking Group plc 1.42 3 IQE IQE plc 1.40 4 GLEN Glencore plc 1.22 5 BOO Boohoo.com 1.02 6 NG. National Grid 0.97 7 SOPH Sophos Group plc 0.95 8 SXX Sirius Minerals plc 0.91 9 WPP WPP plc 0.86 10 BARC Barclays plc 0.83 Market Analysis 21/02/2018 Today's highlights: Global markets mostly lower Cryptocurrency seesaw continues: The crypto market continued to zigzag, as all top 10 currencies registered losses over the past 24 hours. Despite the negative momentum, Bitcoin held above the $11,000 mark. Nvidia reaches all-time high: The popular chipmaker went against the market, registering gains of more than 2% and notching an all-time high. eCommerce company Shopify and web hosting service GoDaddy also reached record heights yesterday. Asia seen higher: Leading indices in Asia, such as the Nikkei and China50, were seen higher this morning. Markets in China are still closed due to the Spring Festival celebrations. Read More... US close: Markets mixed as investors look towards Fed minutes Wall Street finished mixed on Tuesday, amid some upwards pressure on bond yields as investors looked towards the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, due on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.01% to 24,964.75 and the S&P 500 fell 0.58% to 2,716.26, while the Nasdaq 100rose 0.13% to 6,779.70. Earlier, the US Treasury auctioned $96bn-worth of very short-term debt maturing in 13 and 26 weeks, with the sale of a further $55bn in four-week bills and $28bn in two-year notes following. On Wednesday the Treasury is set to sell $64bn of notes maturing in five years, followed by $29bn of seven-year notes on Thursday. Against that flood of Treasury issuance, investors were seemingly finding few reasons to keep pushing share prices higher. That followed a six-day long rally that ended in the biggest single week of gains for indices in years, with a further bounce in the US dollar doing little to help sentiment. “The US stock market reopens this afternoon after being closed yesterday for Presidents’ Day,” David Morrison, chief market analyst at GKFX, noted earlier. “A couple of hours ahead of the open the major stock indices were indicating initial weakness. "The yield on the US 10-year note is back above 2.90% and dangerously close to breaking through the key 3.0% level.” Morrison said there were concerns that investors would rush to dump equities should borrowing costs push much higher from current levels. In corporate news, Walmart shares plunged 10.17% after its quarterly earnings missed analysts' forecasts, while Gannett fell 11.38% after posting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 55 cents versus a consensus forecast of 46 cents. Home Depot reversed earlier gains to fall 0.03% after its fourth-quarter earnings and sales beat expectations, while Qualcommlost 1.33% following a Wall Street Journal report that it was ready to sweeten its bid for NXP Semiconductors to around $44bn. Elsewhere, Rite Aid grew 3.29% after Albertsons said it would buy the rest of the company that Walgreens Boots Alliancewasn't buying. No major economic reports were due on Tuesday, but Wednesday sees the release of the latest FOMC minutes, along with Markit's manufacturing PMI and existing home sales figures for January. Dow Jones - Risers Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.32 1.67% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $92.72 0.78% American Express Co. (AXP) $97.19 0.41% Visa Inc. (V) $122.01 0.13% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $114.71 0.03% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $186.66 -0.14% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $171.85 -0.34% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $157.16 -0.40% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $71.61 -0.46% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $155.56 -0.47% Dow Jones - Fallers Walmart Inc. (WMT) $94.11 -10.18% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.92 -2.45% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $54.98 -2.33% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $43.99 -2.20% United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $126.42 -2.17% General Electric Co. (GE) $14.74 -2.06% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $130.83 -1.71% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $81.34 -1.53% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $139.02 -1.48% Nike Inc. (NKE) $67.49 -1.19% S&P 500 - Risers Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $29.12 10.81% Mosaic Company (MOS) $26.76 5.23% Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $317.57 3.91% Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $80.17 3.70% CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $41.82 3.62% Allegion (ALLE) $85.66 3.55% Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $69.19 3.13% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $56.66 2.96% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $193.44 2.94% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $110.55 2.82% S&P 500 - Fallers Walmart Inc. (WMT) $94.11 -10.18% Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $8.72 -5.42% Genuine Parts Co. (GPC) $94.67 -5.17% Gap Inc. (GPS) $31.61 -4.99% Signet Jewelers Ltd (SIG) $49.12 -4.32% Kroger Co. (KR) $27.49 -4.18% Target Corp. (TGT) $72.86 -3.75% Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $22.06 -3.67% VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $116.34 -3.49% Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $61.93 -3.42% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $69.19 3.13% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $56.66 2.96% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $193.44 2.94% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $110.55 2.82% Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $88.41 2.69% Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $40.17 2.58% Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $106.41 2.21% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $249.08 2.15% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $86.46 1.83% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $84.86 1.74% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $126.67 -5.51% Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $32.34 -3.17% Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $68.69 -2.98% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $323.04 -2.74% Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $77.98 -2.73% CSX Corp. (CSX) $54.59 -2.69% Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $31.46 -2.51% Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $44.57 -2.45% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $67.97 -2.23% Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $65.41 -2.10% Looking for early access to investment opportunities? Make your own informed investment decisions. Get the right tools and information at Master Investor Show 2018. Register for free today Cryptocurrencies Report Top Cryptocurrencies # Name Market Cap($) Price(%) Change Price Graph(3m) 1 Bitcoin (BTC) 189,159,637,905 11,000 -1.79% 2 Ethereum (ETH) 87,400,665,228 884.47 +0.26% 3 Ripple (XRP) 41,277,211,647 1.01 -1.08% 4 Bitcoin Cash / BCC (BCH) 23,619,390,759 1,380.21 -0.59% 5 Litecoin (LTC) 12,407,482,111 220.6 -3.16% 6 Cardano (ADA) 9,546,114,028 0.346 -0.57% Following the financial crisis, high street banks have funded fewer SME housebuilders Alternative finance providers are stepping in to fill this void, offering investors high margins and attractive returns. One of these lenders, Clearwell Capital is currently fundraising with a 3-year secured bond paying 10% per annum. Click here to find out more. Capital at risk. Wednesday newspaper round-up: Heathrow, FCA chair, banks, Tesco The true cost of Heathrow expansion is likely to be “grossly” higher than the £14.3bn the airport has cited, airlines have told MPs, adding that transparency and guarantees should be supplied ahead of a crucial vote. Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, British Airways’ parent company and the main operator at Heathrow, said parliament should not trust Heathrow and said he had “zero confidence” that a third runway would be delivered on time and budget. - Guardian The incoming chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority has admitted to an “error of judgment” after investing in a controversial tax avoidance scheme that resulted in him repaying more than £100,000 to the taxman. Charles Randell, a former City lawyer and government adviser at the time of the financial crisis, told the Treasury select committee that he had failed to see a “warning signal” about Ingenious Film Partners 2 LLP, an investment product that promised members tax reliefs but was subsequently challenged by HM Revenue & Customs. – Guardian Banks need to start preparing for the death of Libor in 2021 or a smooth transition away from the scandal-hit benchmark will be "highly unlikely" and pose considerable risks, a consultancy has warned. Libor, or the London interbank offered rate, is used to price $240 trillion (£170 trillion) worth of financial products globally but is being slowly phased out as regulators transition to an alternative. All twenty banks which submit quotes for Libor, including HSBC, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Lloyds, have promised to support the rateuntil then. -Telegraph The operator of the Southern rail franchise has moved to add a new line to its business, with its first investment beyond trains and buses into a German car sharing company. Go-Ahead, the FTSE 250 company which runs the Govia Thameslink franchise that includes Southern, has taken a 10pc stake in Frankfurt-based Mobileeee for €300,000 (£264,900). – Telegraph Investors in Booker Group have been told by a second shareholder advisory group to vote against a planned £3.7 billion takeover by Tesco as doubts about the deal continue to mount. Glass Lewis said that the premium offered by Tesco “clearly lags regional trends”, adding: “We see little cause for Booker investors to support what appears to be a less-than-compelling control transaction.” – The Times BHP Billiton said yesterday that it was willing to listen to investors over proposals to drop its dual listing structure. As the group unveiled its biggest half-year profit since 2014, Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive, acknowledged that there was “a potential prize around unification . . . but the risks are high”. He said that he would discuss the proposals, which were put forward by Elliott Advisors, tomorrow. – The Times   To advertise in the Euro Markets Bulletin please contact advertise@advfn.com     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. 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