Morning Euro Markets Bulletin

ADVFN  Morning Euro Markets Bulletin Daily world financial news Monday, 26 February 2018 10:24:09 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 rise on positive US cues; AB Foods and Bunzl rally FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Please click on the images to view our interactive charts London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, taking their cue from a positive close on Wall Street at the end of last week and thanks to a flurry of well-received corporate releases to warm investors' cockles amid the falling snow. At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% to 7,282.16, while the pound was up 0.3% against the euro at 1.1391 and 0.5% firmer versus the dollar at 1.4040. Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Equity markets in the UK and Europe are off to a good start, following on from a late surge in the US on Friday and a positive start to the week in Asia. Inflation and US monetary policy has been the catalyst for recent volatility and remains the centre of attention, with all eyes on Jerome Powell’s economic testimony this week and the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, due out on Thursday. "This week gives investors the first major opportunity to establish what new Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell thinks about the US economy, as he appears before congress on Tuesday and Thursday. Mr Powell has had a baptism of fire in the three weeks since he took on his new role, with markets experiencing huge volatility on fears that inflation will see the Fed raise rates more aggressively than anticipated. The opportunity to establish what Mr Powell thinks about the US economy, inflation, interest rates and asset values is therefore highly important for markets." On the data front, BBA mortgage approvals are due at 0930 GMT. Investors will also eye a speech by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in which he's expected to announce a commitment to a non-tariff agreement that would see the UK remain in the EU customs union and avoid a ‘hard’ Brexit. In corporate news, British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group was the standout gainer, recovering from losses at the end of last week when investors were left disappointed by its full-year results. Associated British Foods rose despite reporting a rare decline in like-for-like sales at its Primark retail arm in the first half of the year, as it said its full-year outlook was unaltered. Vodafone advanced after saying it will become Samsung's exclusive strategic telecoms partner in selected European markets, to develop and launch a range of consumer ‘internet of things’ (IoT) smart home product and services. Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl was in the black as it posted a 13% jump in full-year pre-tax profit thanks to recent acquisitions and a weaker pound. FTSE 100 property development and investment companyHammerson - which announced a £3.4bn takeover of Intu Properties in December - edged higher after it reported a rise in full-year pre-tax profit as net rental income jumped 7%. Dechra Pharmaceuticals rallied as the veterinary products manufacturer's first-half revenues came in ahead of expectations, while Senior was on the front foot even as it posted a drop in full-year profit, as sales exceeded £1bn for the first time. Events organiser Ascential gained after well-received full-year numbers and turnaround specialist Melrose Industriesadvanced after saying that its hostile £7.4bn for GKN has received clearance from US and Candian authorities. Hiscox tumbled after it posted a drop of more than 90% in full-year pre-tax profit as it took a hit from natural catastrophes. Sub-prime lender Provident Financial was also under the cosh ahead of its preliminary full-year results on Tuesday and after reports in the Sunday newspapers that it has been sounding out investors about a "bumper cash call". In broker note action, BP and Centrica were lifted to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' by RBC Capital Markets, while Jupiter Fund Management was downgraded to 'sell' at UBS.   Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,282.16 0.52% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,859.47 0.30% techMARK (TASX) 3,327.13 0.21% FTSE 100 - Risers International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 597.00p 1.67% Kingfisher (KGF) 358.20p 1.47% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 470.75p 1.41% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,682.00p 1.40% Anglo American (AAL) 1,812.80p 1.36% Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,096.00p 1.36% BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,536.50p 1.35% Centrica (CNA) 146.05p 1.32% Glencore (GLEN) 401.45p 1.31% Old Mutual (OML) 257.30p 1.26% FTSE 100 - Fallers Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 371.00p -1.36% GKN (GKN) 424.00p -0.59% Mediclinic International (MDC) 605.20p -0.53% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,452.00p -0.28% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 293.10p -0.17% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 722.30p -0.15% Standard Chartered (STAN) 829.00p -0.07% Prudential (PRU) 1,832.00p -0.03% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 836.74p -0.01% Carnival (CCL) 4,797.00p 0.00% FTSE 250 - Risers Hochschild Mining (HOC) 214.30p 2.05% Vedanta Resources (VED) 756.40p 1.83% Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 847.68p 1.52% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 474.97p 1.49% FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 882.90p 1.48% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,360.00p 1.46% Edinburgh Inv Trust (EDIN) 644.00p 1.42% Rank Group (RNK) 227.00p 1.34% Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,686.00p 1.28% SIG (SHI) 144.90p 1.26% FTSE 250 - Fallers Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,290.00p -7.59% Provident Financial (PFG) 615.20p -6.31% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 517.00p -2.64% Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 238.80p -2.05% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 333.80p -1.82% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 238.85p -0.89% Serco Group (SRP) 93.50p -0.80% Man Group (EMG) 177.84p -0.73% Royal Mail (RMG) 566.60p -0.60% OneSavings Bank (OSB) 401.80p -0.59% Crypto Pizza Evening with Clem Chambers, CEO of Online Blockchain In May 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas from Papa Johns for 10,000 bitcoins. Had he kept the coins, as of today they would be worth a cool $86,000,000. Join us on Wednesday 14 March for a crypto pizza 'Bite' on Clem Chambers, the CEO of the first London-listed British blockchain company - Click Here To Register For Free  Europe open: Gains on Wall Street buoy stocks ahead of Italian, German votes FTSE 100 Euronext Dax perf CAC 40 Stocks are pushing higher, tracking the very strong gains seen on Wall Street last Friday, despite the upcoming Italian parliamentary elections scheduled for 4 March. Also scheduled for the following Sunday were the results of a postal vote by members of Germany's centre-left SPD on whether to approve a coalition deal with Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU. Commenting on the outlook for the Italian political landscape following next Sunday's vote, analysts at Barclays Research told clients: "We think the spectre of political instability could cast a long shadow, as a future coalition government may group together several political parties with very different views on critical subjects such as fiscal policy, structural reform implementation and the relationship with European partners and authorities." Against that backdrop, stocks on Wall Street jumped last Friday as the US central bank's semi-annual report to Congress appeared to indicate that rate-setters in the US might be leaning towards a slightly less hawkish policy bias. Thus, as of 0822 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.70% or 2.77 points higher to 383.93, alongside an advance of 0.92% or 114.35 to 12,598.23 for Germany's Dax and a gain of 0.66% or 34.92 points to 5,353.31 on the Cac-40. In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Bund was little changed at 0.65%, albeit after a six basis point plunge on Friday, while euro/dollar was 0.18% higher to 1.2318. The economic calendar was quite sparse at the start of the week, with the main event scheduled for Monday being a speech from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi's to the European parliament at 1300 GMT. Meanwhile, in corporate news, shares in Germany's Daimlerwere lower despite news that China's Geely had built up a nearly 10% stake in the carmaker. Also in Germany, contrary to media reports, Innogy had no plans for a sale to either of its main rivals, Spain's Iberdrola or Italian outfit Enel, the company's management said on 23 February. Further West, Bank of Ireland said it was set to restart paying dividends after posting full-year underlying profits of €1.1bn. Stock in Thales was trading slightly on the front foot after clinching a AUD$1.2bn contract to provide air traffic management services Down Under. Market Analysis 23/02/2018 Today’s highlights: Fed minutes push global markets down Wall Street closes lower: A volatile session in the US yesterday, as leading indices started the day with sharp gains, but eventually closed lower. The trend reversal occurred following the release of minutes from the latest FOMC meeting, which showed the Fed could be planning more rate hikes. Despite the negative momentum, some stocks continued to show gains, such as Domino’s Pizza, which climbed more than 4% to reach a new all-time high. Asia follows Wall Street’s lead: Top indices in Asia, such as the Nikkei and China50, were seen lower this morning. Read More... US close: Stocks jump as some investors dial back expectations for Fed tightening Stocks jumped higher at the end of the week after what some observers described as a less hawkish than expected semi-annual policy report to Congress from the US central bank. Critically, the tone of that report appeared to chime with the policy bias set out by New York Fed chief William Dudley in a speech on 11 February. According to Bloomberg, on that occasion Dudley had indicated: "A small and transitory overshoot of 2% inflation would not be a problem. "Were it to occur, it would demonstrate that our inflation target is symmetric, and it would help keep inflation expectations well-anchored around our longer-run objective." Against that backdrop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.39% or 347.51 points to end the session at 25,309.99, alongside a rise of 43.34 points or 1.60% to 2,747.30 on the S&P 500 and an advance of 127.31 points or 1.77% to 7,337.39 in the Nasdaq Composite. In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note gave back five basis points to close at 2.87%. Commenting on Friday's price action, Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK said: "Having spent most of last week in negative territory US markets managed to close higher for the second week in succession, as well as at a three week high, but it was only as a result of strong one day gain that also coincided with a sharp two day decline in US yields which saw the US 10 year drop from 2.95% at the Wednesday close, to finish the week 8.4 basis points lower at 2.8660. "[...] The decline in US yields does appear to have only been at the long end with the 10/2’s spread narrowing sharply from just below 0.8% two weeks ago to just above 0.6%, which would suggest that markets still remain in two minds, despite last weeks Fed minutes, as to whether we’ll see four US rate rises this year, or somewhat less than that." Linked to the above, in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dismissed concerns about rising wages, saying they won't necessarily prompt a rise in inflation. "There are a lot of ways to have the economy grow...You can have wage inflation and not necessarily have inflation concerns in general," he said. On the corporate front, US food company General Mills made a move into the pet food market as it agreed to buy Blue Buffalo for $40 per share in cash, which is around $8bn. Blue Buffalo shares surged 17.23%, while General Mills fell off 3.59%. Chemical company Albermarle moved ahead 4.46% after it hiked its quarterly dividend by 5% to 33.50 cents a share. Hewlett-Packard shares jumped 3.46% after the tech group reported a strong first quarter that beat earnings expectations and raised its full-year projections. Xcerra edged higher by 0.10% after the semiconductors and electronics testing firm announced it would terminate its sale to a Chinese group, citing difficulties receiving federal approval was too much for the $580m deal. Dow Jones - Risers Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.73 4.21% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $94.06 2.54% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $44.00 2.47% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $112.59 2.46% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $162.41 2.23% Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $77.53 2.20% Visa Inc. (V) $122.91 2.12% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $266.77 2.04% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $117.31 2.03% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $107.25 1.91% Dow Jones - Fallers General Electric Co. (GE) $14.50 -0.89% United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $133.15 -0.32% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $92.89 0.13% Boeing Co. (BA) $356.66 0.21% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $81.07 0.26% 3M Co. (MMM) $237.02 0.43% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $54.88 0.55% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.29 0.88% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.05 1.19% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $230.16 1.35% S&P 500 - Risers Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $9.10 12.90% Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $18.13 10.54% Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $53.56 6.54% Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $116.32 5.28% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $165.90 5.27% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $46.53 5.15% Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $24.66 5.12% Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $15.35 5.07% Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $37.05 4.72% Mosaic Company (MOS) $28.74 4.70% S&P 500 - Fallers First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $61.79 -6.77% General Mills Inc. (GIS) $52.99 -3.59% Alcoa Corporation (AA) $46.70 -2.73% SCANA Corp. (SCG) $39.30 -1.60% Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $32.64 -1.09% Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $60.05 -0.96% Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $19.94 -0.94% General Electric Co. (GE) $14.50 -0.89% Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $35.67 -0.64% Textron Inc. (TXT) $59.31 -0.40% Nasdaq 100 - Risers Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $165.90 5.27% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $46.53 5.15% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $387.26 4.81% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $89.14 4.22% Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.73 4.21% Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $118.93 3.79% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $53.29 3.76% Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $72.07 3.71% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $209.74 3.52% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $233.84 3.13% Nasdaq 100 - Fallers Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $83.05 -1.13% Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $106.61 -0.36% Intuit Inc. (INTU) $171.78 -0.19% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $68.05 0.12% Hasbro Inc (HAS) $97.47 0.16% Mylan Inc. (MYL) $41.45 0.41% Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $78.87 0.47% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $43.75 0.55% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $250.74 0.56% Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $39.21 0.69% Looking for early access to investment opportunities? Make your own informed investment decisions. Get the right tools and information at Master Investor Show 2018. Register for free today Cryptocurrencies Report Top Cryptocurrencies # Name Market Cap($) Price(%) Change Price Graph(3m) 1 Bitcoin (BTC) 162,481,564,030 9,549 -0.2% 2 Ethereum (ETH) 83,377,626,306 852.45 +1.48% 3 Ripple (XRP) 36,127,663,085 0.8888 -1.29% 4 Bitcoin Cash / BCC (BCH) 19,792,102,410 1,153.67 -1.36% 5 Litecoin (LTC) 12,317,000,744 220 +1.33% 6 Cardano (ADA) 8,447,791,466 0.312355 -3.59% Atlantic Advisory - Share Tips of the Year 2018 Download Our Latest Report Here Losses can exceed deposits Monday newspaper round-up: GKN, Carillion, JPM, open banking Political efforts to force the business secretary, Greg Clark , to intervene in the hostile takeover bid for industrial giant GKN have intensified with an accusation by Britain’s largest trade union that bosses of bidder Melrose support a hard Brexit that will damage manufacturing jobs. Research by Unite shows Melrose’s executive chair, Christopher Miller, and his wife, Monica, donated £37,500 to Vote Leave in the runup to the EU referendum while the vice-chair, David Roper, donated £20,000 – a pro-leave stance that the union says justifies blocking the£7.4bn deal unveiled last month. – Guardian Carillion’s former finance director sold nearly £800,000 of shares after retiring last year shortly before the firm’s collapse, according to evidence published by MPs. Richard Adam, who had managed Carillion’s finances for a decade, offloaded £534,000 of shares on 1 March last year, three months after stepping down from the company, before selling a further £242,000 of stock handed to him in May as part of a bonus scheme. – Guardian The "Queen's broker" JP Morgan Cazenove now has one of the worst records for keeping UK stock market clients as smaller players snap at its heels, fresh analysis shows. The blue-blooded City broker and Canadian bank Canaccord suffered the most stock market losses in the five years to November 2017, according to an analysis of Adviser Rankings data, with JP Morgan losing 30 UK clients during the period, and Canaccord 60 after clients moved elsewhere following its acuisition of Collin Stewart in 2011. – Telegraph A digital revolution in banking services could contribute more than £1bn annually to the UK economy, research has claimed. Under the so-called “Open Banking” reforms, which came into force in the UK last month, customers are given the keys to their own financial data, enabling them to change providers in minutes online with a few clicks. – Telegraph More than 4.5 million borrowers who are not on fixed rates face an average annual increase of £930 in repayments if interest rates rise by 1 per cent, according to analysis which suggests that first-time buyers would be hardest hit. Research by Savills suggests that the cost of borrowing for people with variable or tracker-rate mortgages — about 41 per cent of borrowers — would rise by a total of £4.3 billion if the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee was to vote for the rise. – The Times Rolls-Royce was in a battle for survival during the depths of its financial crisis in 2015 and 2016 with revelations about long-running corruption that led to record fines leaving the workforce believing that bribery was how the company did business, Warren East, the chief executive, has admitted. In his most candid interview since taking over at the FTSE 100 engineer 30 months ago, Mr East revealed that he was unaware of just how bad things were. He said that he had found the job difficult because he is not a natural cost-cutting turnaround executive. – 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. Company registered in England and Wales: Number 2374988 VAT No. GB 549 2130 49