| | | | | Q2's Top 10 Stock Picks | | What trading opportunities do the next 3 months hold? Our latest quarterly stocks report unveils our Top 10 Stock Picks for Q2 as well as a review of the key Q1 stories & preview of the coming quarter's pivotal events, and analysis of the best, and worst, FTSE share price performances year to date. Losses can exceed deposits. Download Report | | |
| | London open: Stocks nudge lower as Barclays, Shell decline; ECB in focus |  | | 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 Thursday following uninspiring earnings from Shell and Barclays, as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank. At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,373.89, while the pound was off 0.1% against the euro and the dollar at 1.1445 and 1.3925, respectively. On the data front, BBA mortgage approvals for March are scheduled for 0930 BST, while the CBI distributive trades survey for April is at 1100 BST. The ECB rate decision is at 1245 BST, while the press conference is at 1330 BST, with no change to policy expected. Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Back in March the ECB caused a bit of hawkish hope to emerge for the euro when a slight change in wording around the terms of its Asset Purchase Programme caused investors to speculate the central bank was dropping its easing bias. However, Draghi was quick to pour cold water on those looking to read too much into the linguistic shift, with the month’s meeting minutes further scraping away whatever hawkish remnants were left for the currency to cling onto. "With the euro now looking incredibly ropey against the dollar, it’ll be interesting to see if Draghi is willing to give it another kicking, or if his press conference will be a classically fireworks-free affair." In corporate news, Barclays fell as it reported revenue down 8% to £5.36bn and a loss due to litigation and conduct items, but said it intended to return more capital to shareholders. Underlying profit crept up 1% in the first quarter, if excluding litigation and conduct items, to £1.73bn. Royal Dutch Shell leaked lower as it reported a strong rise in first-quarter income thanks to higher oil and gas prices, and growth from its gas and upstream businesses but said less favourable refining market conditions and lower contributions from trading impacted the earnings of the downstream business. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was in the red after saying demand for new housing has continued to be good through early 2018 and that it remains on track to meet its expectations for the year, but reporting a drop in the sales rate and order book. FTSE 250 insurer Hastings Group slumped even as it posted a jump in written premiums as its live customer policies and market share grew, with analysts pointing out that the first-quarter performance shows a slowdown in the growth trajectory for the year. On the upside, oil giant BP pushed up as it appointed former BG Group and Statoil boss Helge Lund as its new chairman, succeeding Carl-Henric Svanberg, with effect from 1 January 2019. Cobham rose after saying that trading in the first quarter was line with its expectations as it reaffirmed the 2018 guidance it set out back in March, while Meggitt advanced as it posted a 6% jump in first-quarter revenue. Asset manager Schroders was in the black despite saying that assets under management and administration slipped in the first quarter. Elementis gained after it hailed a "good" start to the year, while Domino's Pizza was trading higher after saying UK like-for-like sale grew 7% in the first quarter. There wasn't a whole lot going on on the broker front, although Whitbread was downgraded at Stifel and upgraded by Kepler Cheuvreux after announcing on Wednesday that it plans to spin off its Costa coffee chain. Antofagasta, Legal & General, Fresnillo, Glencore, Relx, Rolls-Royce, William Hill, Man Group, Weir, Petrofac, IWG, National Express, Spirax-Sarco Engineering and International Public Partnerships were among the companies whose stock went ex-dividend. |
| | Daily cryptocurrency Tracker 26.4.18: Crypto markets experience slowdown | | The negative momentum in the crypto market continued over the past 24 hours, and this time Bitcoin caught up. 8 of the top 10 cryptos, including BTC registered losses. At the time... Read More.. |
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| | Atlantic Advisory - Share Tips of the Year 2018 | | Download Our Latest Report Here Losses can exceed deposits |
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| | US close: Stocks end mostly higher as earnings help to offset rising bond yields | | US stocks rallied late in the session on Wednesday, with the Dow helped along by well-received results from the likes of Boeing even as government bond yields rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 24,083.83 and the S&P 500 edged up 0.2% to 2,639.40 but the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% to 7,003.74, even as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note pushed up three basis points to 3.026%, edging closer to its highest level since December 2013. Solid earnings helped to underpin the mood, with Boeing ending sharply higher after the Chicago-based aerospace giant posted first quarter earnings per share of $3.64 versus a forecast of $2.58, and sales of $23.38bn compared to an estimate of $22.28bn. Electronics maker Texas Instruments also closed in the black after reporting better-than-expected earnings late the previous day. Comcast rallied after it made a formal £31bn bid for London-listed broadcaster Sky, which trumped the one made by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. Comcast made the announcement alongside its first-quarter results, which revealed revenue of $22.79bn compared to $20.59bn a year ago and earnings per share of 62 cents, up from 53 cents a year ago. Elsewhere, energy stocks were in favour after Exxon Mobil announced that it was lifting its quarterly dividend. On the downside, both Northrup Grumman and Twitter fell following the release of their quarterly earnings. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said that a pre-market jump for Twitter on headline earnings beats was sent brutally into reverse as the firm’s outlook for the year struck a distinctly gloomy note. "This is all very similar to Caterpillar last night, and the fact that such disparate companies are being treated in such a similar way speaks to a definite sense of unease among investors. Still, both had enjoyed stellar gains over the past twelve months, so this still has an air of profit-taking to it, and the solid performance over the past few months should provide some encouragement for new investors." Qualcomm, Paypal, Visa, AT&T, Facebook, Ebay and Ford all reported quarterly earnings after the bell. |
| | Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit, trade, Unilever, water | | David Davis has been accused by Brussels of engaging in “fantasy” politics after he claimed that an EU trade deal could be ready for ratification by March next year. The Brexit secretary told MPs yesterday that the government intended to have a political trade partnership deal in place by October, and that it could be turned into a legal treaty in time for Britain’s official EU departure date. - The Times Peers and MPs claimed a significant victory on Wednesday when an attempt to give sweeping powers to ministers was thrown out of the Brexit bill as complaints about the power of the Lords to reverse the decisions of the Commons grew louder. In the first of a series of votes on how the powers brought back from Brussels would be limited by the balance between ministers and parliament, peers from all parties defeated the government by 349 to 221 - a majority of 128. - Guardian The DUP has warned it will bring down Theresa May's Government if Northern Ireland is forced to stay in the Single Market or Customs Union after Brexit. Nigel Dodds, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party at Westminster, said his party would vote against the Government if any of its "red lines" on Brexit were crossed. - Telegraph Senior British officials privately conceded last year that the UK’s preferred solution for avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit would threaten the EU’s single market and that all possible outcomes would be damaging for the province. A series of leaked letters and briefing papers from the Northern Ireland executive - at least one of which was sent to Olly Robbins, the prime minister’s most senior Brexit adviser - lay bare the huge difficulties created by Brexit. - Guardian Resistance to a joint UK-EU proposal to the World Trade Organization on trade after Brexit - which was once celebrated by the trade secretary, Liam Fox, as “real progress” - has triggered a break down in unity, with London and Brussels divided on a way forward. In recent months the united EU and UK front has splintered in the face of a strident rejection of their proposals from the US, Australia and New Zealand, among others. - Guardian The chancellor has rejected calls for the government to soon stop using the discredited retail prices index of inflation. Philip Hammond agreed with MPs on the Treasury select committee that a move to the consumer prices index would be “sensible”, but said that this was not the right time. - The Times Car production in Britain has experienced a double-digit slump amid concern over falling diesel sales and the impact of Brexit on exports. The performance last month, which was partly weather related, prompted the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to repeat its call for continued membership of the EU customs union. - Guardian The abolition of a corporate tax on dividends was “decisive” for Unilever in choosing whether to base itself in the Netherlands or Britain, according to Dutch government memos. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, faces a domestic political row over the tax break, which was introduced against finance ministry advice and will cost taxpayers €1.4 billion a year from 2020. - The Times UK supermarkets and food companies launched a new voluntary pledge to cut plastic packaging on Thursday as ministers consider forcing them to pay more towards collecting and recycling the waste they produce. In a first response to a growing public backlash against the huge volumes of plastic rubbish, most of the UK’s largest supermarkets signed up to support the UK Plastics Pact - an industry-wide initiative which says it aims to transform packaging and reduce avoidable plastic waste. - Guardian Retailers will not suffer financial losses from the introduction of a plastic bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) in the UK, according to an analysis of a similar system in Norway. The environment secretary, Michael Gove, has announced plans to launch a deposit scheme for bottles and cans in the UK, and MPs are due to debate the subject in parliament today. - Guardian Adults spend an average of one day a week online, according to research into the extent of our internet obsession. Less than half of the population continued to listen to the radio at home as we spent more time with smartphones, streaming services and podcasts, the study found. - The Times England faces a one in four chance that the taps will run dry within the next 30 years unless the water industry undertakes a major drive to create a new national water system. The Government’s infrastructure authority warned that England’s water network is already under strain, and could leave large numbers of homes and businesses without water for extended periods unless ministers adopt their recommendations “without delay”. - Telegraph Corrupt Russian oligarchs sheltering dirty money in Britain’s overseas territories will be exposed under laws set to be forced on Theresa May next week. Tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands have so far resisted moves to follow the UK’s lead and reveal to public view the identities of those benefiting from assets held under their jurisdictions. - The Times Facebook’s data privacy problems have had little impact on its profitability as the company posted record revenues for the first quarter of 2018. The company made $11.97bn in revenue in the first three months of the year, up 49% from the previous year, beating Wall Street estimates of $11.41bn. - Guardian Ford is slashing an extra $11.5bn (£8.3bn) in costs through to 2021 on top of the $14bn it had already announced, and signalled it may be looking to sell operations in Europe, as it seeks to kickstart a turnaround. The car maker expects its annual capital expenditure to peak this year at $7.5bn, and then will be cutting costs across engineering, marketing, manufacturing and sales between 2019 and 2022, saving a total of $25.5bn. - Telegraph Millennials do not need living rooms, a leading architect has said, as he complains that size rules are shutting young people out of the housing market. In a briefing paper Patrik Schumacher, who worked on the London Aquatics Centre built for the Olympics, argued that centrally-located "hotel-room sized" studio flats are ideal for busy young people. - Telegraph | | | | To advertise in the Euro Markets Bulletin please contact advertise@advfn.com |
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