| | | A renewed air of optimism around global trade tensions propelled London shares higher on Friday, with gains limited by a firmer pound. The FTSE 100 index increased almost 54 point or 0.8% to 7,168.48 after an hour of trading. The pound added to the previous day's rally against, up 0.1% to 1.3026, but was down 0.1% versus the euro at 1.1391. Overnight, US stocks enjoyed their third straight winning session after President Trump said that trade discussions with China were "moving along nicely" and there were reports that his negotiators had been told to prepare an offer to China in time for the G20 meeting. Disappointing iPhone sales and Christmas outlook from Apple after the closing bell on Wall Street saw its share price dive 7% in after hours trading and the US index futures take a step lower, a move that is likely to be echoed in the wider tech sector and across US indices on Friday, given the size of the company. The tech behemoth reported quarterly revenue up 20%, slightly ahead of expectations, but iPhone sales were flat and there was a weaker sales forecast for the crucial holiday season, combined with the news that Apple will no longer give a breakdown of product sales. Asian markets lapped up positive news on easing trade war tensions with even Apple's suppliers in Asia focusing on trade news rather than Apple’s disappointing outlook, said market analyst Japser Lawler at LCG. "The trade war has been partly to blame for the recent equities rout, so any signs that the two powers are making progress will encourage investors to put risk back on the table and pick up stocks at bargain levels. This remains a fragile situation, but it appears to have turned a corner, providing a floor to the recent equity selloff. Whilst talks are on a positive note we don’t expect to see a repeat of those extreme bouts of selling that we saw across October." Agreement of a US-China trade deal is seen as likely to put pressure on the dollar. Later on Friday morning there will be manufacturing surveys covering most of the larger European economies, with the UK PMI survey due out at 0930 GMT. US labour market data at 1230 GMT, includes the big non-farm payroll report, for which the consensus estimate is 190,000. The US unemployment rate is tipped to hold steady at 3.7%, while average earnings are expected to rise to 3.1% year-on-year, up from 2.8%. "The key as ever will be the wage data - this could be a big breakout month with annual wage growth potentially starting to take on the 3% handle," said Neil Wilson at Markets.com. "Survey data of small businesses struggling to find workers and looking to increase wages points to the ultra-tight labour market starting to produce the wage inflation long expected. The question mark as ever though is over the labour force participation rate, which betrays a depth of hidden slack in the labour market even as the unemployment rate hits 50-year lows." In UK corporate news, IAG flew higher as the British Airways owner upped its profit target for the coming five years. The Anglo-Ibeiran airline group is holding an investor event on Friday, where chief executive Willie Walsh will set out plans to generate EBTIDAR averaging €7.2bn per year, up from the previous target of €6.5bn for 2018-2022. Sage shares were lifted as investors showed their approval as the accounting software group appointed finance chief Steve Hare as its new boss after he served two months as the software group’s interim leader. "As we looked externally for the experience, vision and deep knowledge required to accelerate operational execution it very quickly became clear through Steve's early decisions and his clear prioritisation that he is the right person to lead Sage," said chairman Donald Brydon. Barclays was on the front foot after it confirmed that Rothschild boss Nigel Higgins had been recruited to replace John McFarlane as chairman. Higgins will take over at Barclays’ next annual meeting on 2 May. Paddy Power Betfair was trotting higher as it reported lower third quarter profits but tightened up its full year earnings guidance. Reported third quarter EBITDA fell 16% to £101m, due to the inclusion of FanDuel fantasy sports losses. Oil major BP and Shell picked up a touch after the sector slumped lower the day before as Opec output readings jumped. Brent crude remained softer on Friday at $72.67 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $63.41. "Oil prices have also continued to slide after the US gave 8 countries waivers on Iranian sanctions, sending the oil price back below the 200 day MA to a daily close below it for the first time since August 2017," observed Michael Hewson at CMC Markets. "Given that we’ve seen 5 successive weeks of inventory builds we could well see further falls towards the August 2018 lows at $70 a barrel, welcome news for the consumer and also welcome news for the US consumer which has seen WTI prices fall to their lowest levels since April, thus putting downward pressure on US gasoline prices." On the downside, defensive stocks were in the red as optimism about the US-China trade situation led investors to move to a more risk-on approach. | | | | | Q4's Top 10 Stock Picks The best trading opportunities for the last 3 months of 2018 Has the FTSE bottomed out? Are you looking to revamp your financial portfolio, scouting names with upside potential? This report unveils our Top 10 Stocks for Q4 that could help make your latest investment decisions informed and deliberate. 78% of retail clients lose money, consider affordability. Download here » | | | | Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers| Sponsored by Interactive Investor | 
| | |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers| Sponsored by Interactive Investor |
| | |
| | | | | Bespoke Market Trading Services EBLN provides bespoke research and market intelligence. Receive:
- Daily market updates.
- Exclusive weekly analysis on crypto currencies.
- Additional proprietary and exclusive insights and analysis as markets move. Download our free report | | | US close: Markets positive amid more strong earnings | | | | | Wall Street trading finished in the green on Thursday, with all major indices taking their cues from the strong gains seen across Europe, and some solid earnings from the likes of DowDuPont and Fitbit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.06% to 25,380.74, the S&P 500 rose 1.06% to 2,740.37, and the Nasdaq 100 improved 1.47% to 7,069.17. Donald Trump tweeted that trade discussions with China were "moving along nicely" and that he planned to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the upcoming G20 summit after the two had a "very good" talk. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told visiting US politicians earlier in the day that China and the United States could overcome their differences if they were capable of working together in a spirit of mutual respect. “Onwards and, hopefully, upwards is the collective feeling in the markets on Thursday as investors bid farewell to red October and welcome a new month that will ideally be more positive,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam. "The final day of the month was far more positive than the 22 days, or so, that preceded it which many will hope is a sign of better things to come. “The timing of this sudden shift was curious, with some suggesting it may have been more a case of month end moves, perhaps some portfolio rebalancing, but I guess that will become more clear in the coming days.” On the data front, figures from the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 214,000 last week versus expectations for a drop to 213,000, while the prior week's level was revised up by 1,000 to 216,000. The four-week moving average came in at 213,750, up 1,750 from the previous week's average, which was revised up by 250. In corporate news, Spotify shares were down 5.7% despite the music streaming service posting a 5% rise in premium subscribers for the third quarter. Fitbit shares surged 25.79% after its third-quarter earnings late on Wednesday surpassed analysts' expectations. Chemical company DowDuPont rallied 8.07% on the back of strong quarterly earnings and news of a new $3bn share buyback. Avon shares slid 4.08% after the cosmetics company’s third-quarter profit and sales fell short of expectations, and online furniture and homeware retailer Wayfair was 12.81% lower after it reported a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss. | | | Friday newspaper round-up: Trade deal, HMRC, Dell, FOBTs | | | | | Asian shares have surged on reports that Donald Trump wants to reach an agreement with Chinese president Xi Jinping about the trade dispute that has dogged markets for months. The US president spoke to Xi on Thursday and later tweeted that trade talks with China were “moving along nicely” ahead of face-to-face talks between the pair at the G20 summit in Argentina later this month. - Guardian “Cracks are showing” at HM Revenue & Customs because the taxman is struggling with a daunting workload, MPs have said. Efforts to prepare for Brexit and dealing with other issues means that tax credit fraud and errors are expected to increase while the department has failed to grasp the costs of some tax reliefs, the public accounts committee said. - The Times A French investment bank has become the first big City employer to tell its staff that they must move to the Continent or face losing their jobs as financial institutions activate plans for a no-deal Brexit. The move by Société Générale will raise fears that it may be too late to stem the loss of jobs from banking amid concerns at the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement for the financial services sector. - The Times The multimillionaire Brexit campaigner Arron Banks is under criminal investigation over claims that he hid the source of illegal overseas donations used to fund the referendum campaign. The National Crime Agency is also investigating Better for the Country, the organisation that ran the Leave.EU referendum campaign, Leave.EU itself, and Elizabeth Bilney, the Leave.EU chief executive. - The Times The National Crime Agency investigation into Arron Banks will inevitably examine his contacts with Russian officials in the run-up to the EU referendum, and a series of apparent deals offered to him by Moscow. Banks has consistently denied receiving money from Russia. On Thursday he angrily dismissed as “ludicrous” the decision by the Electoral Commission to refer him to the NCA, which concluded a number of criminal offences may have been committed. - Guardian One of Wall Street’s most powerful financiers has warned that the United States is heading for a fully fledged trade war with China. Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of Blackrock, the world’s largest money manager, said he believed that President Trump would make good on a threat to impose tariffs on all imports from the country. - The Times The United States has charged companies in China and Taiwan and three individuals with stealing trade secrets from a US semi-conductor company, the justice department announced on Thursday. The prosecution comes amid heightened trade tensions between China and the US, and as American officials raise alarms about the threat of Chinese economic espionage. - Guardian The number of households already in debt to their energy supplier before winter begins has grown by more than 300,000 in the past year, according to research, with a total of nearly £400m owed to power companies. Following a round of price hikes, the amount of debt collectively owed to energy companies in the UK hit £393m in October, an increase of almost a quarter on the same time last year. - Guardian Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has sued Dell Technologies over the PC maker's $27.1bn (£20.8bn) plans to take the company public again. Mr Icahn said on Thursday he had begun litigation proceedings against Dell, alleging the company did not disclose financial information related to its plans to re-list its shares. - Telegraph Conservative MPs vowed last night to exact revenge on Theresa May after she forced Tracey Crouch to quit in a row over action to curb highly addictive gambling machines. The sports minister resigned after the prime minister refused to bring forward to April a cut in the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2. - The Times British summers could be entirely powered without fossil fuels by the middle of the century without breaking the economics of the energy market, according to a report. But while wind, solar and nuclear power would provide nearly 91% of the country’s electricity by then, up from about 50% today, gas power stations are still expected to be needed during winters. - Guardian Sales in Ikea’s British division have jumped by nearly 6 per cent to just under £2 billion as the Swedish group’s array of flatpack furniture and home decorations continues to attract shoppers. The homewares giant said the surge in sales was a result of investing in its stores and improving its online business. Its share of the UK home furnishings market rose to 8.4 per cent in the year to August 31, up from 8 per cent a year before. - The Times The consultancy and audit firm EY has announced bumper growth in client fees in Ireland for the end of the most recent financial year. The figures, as of end June, suggest a 28 per cent increase in income to €316 million from €247 million in 2017. That jump sees the company’s Irish operation slightly outstrip its overall global revenue growth figure of 7.4 percent, with annual income of €30.5 billion for the firm’s worldwide operations recorded for the 2018 financial year. - The Times The US justice department has charged two former Goldman Sachs bankers and the Malaysian financier Jho Low with conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from Malaysia’s state development fund. The criminal charges are the first to be brought by US authorities over the vast, long-running scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). - Guardian "Unhealthy" high streets could be taking two and a half years off your life, according to a new report. Research by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) found that residents living in towns with lots of bookies and off-licences die younger than those with plenty of libraries and pharmacies. - Telegraph The world’s first foldable smartphone has been put on sale by a California start-up, beating companies such as Samsung to the punch. Royole, a specialist in flexible screens, unveiled the “FlexPai” phone at an event in Beijing. It says it will start shipping the device, a combination between a smartphone and a tablet, in December. - Telegraph | |
| ADVFN Disclaimer Although we have sent you this email, ADVFN does not endorse any product or company nor is it responsible for the content of this news bulletin. We have not independently reviewed the information; claims or testimonials provided within the news bulletin and make no guarantee or warranty regarding its content. The opinions and recommendations expressed in this email are not those of ADVFN. |
| | | |
| Registered Office/Accounts Dept:
Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre,
The Gables, Fyfield Road, Ongar,
Essex, CM5 0GA. | | Support Tel: 0207 0700 961
Company registered in England and Wales:
Number 2374988
VAT No: GB 549 2130 49 | | | | | | | |
ADVFN Le point sur les Marchés ...
-
Cher membre, Bienvenue chez ADVFN ! Veuillez cliquer ici pour activer votre...
-
Cher membre, Bienvenue chez ADVFN ! Veuillez cliquer ici pour activer votre...
|
No comments:
Post a Comment