| The 12 Stocks of Christmas Who could rebound the most in December? The end of the year is an excellent time for traders; data going back over three decades notes that December often sees a stock market rally to cap the end of the trading year. This report looks at 12 Stock Picks for this year's Santa Rally to assess which of them have the best potential for recovery.78% of retail clients lose money, consider affordability. Download Here | | | London open: Stocks flat after Wall St losses, as China-US relations sour | | | | | London stocks were steady in early trade on Friday, with investors reluctant to make any big bets either way following more losses on Wall Street overnight after the Fed's disappointing policy announcement earlier in the week, and amid souring relations between the US and China. At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 6,713.12, while the pound was up 0.3% against the dollar at 1.2694 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1065. Worries about Sino-US relations weighed on sentiment after the US Justice Department filed charges overnight accusing two members of a Chinese cyber-espionage group of hacking into dozens of US tech and industry giants. It has been alleged that the two individuals were operating in conjunction with the Chinese government, although this has been denied by Beijing. "The move is likely to put a strain on US-China relations," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden. Meanwhile, rising odds of a US government shutdown also weighed on the mood, as President Trump and congressional Democrats remained at odds over $5bn funding for his border wall with Mexico. "With several spending bills expiring on Saturday, that leaves today for some last-minute deal making - that is, bickering whether Trump does or does not get his desired Christmas present - to avoid a partial shutdown of government," Rabobank said. "However, since many Congressmen have already left Washington for the holidays after the bill passed the Senate last Wednesday, a temporary shutdown over the Christmas break appears all but unavoidable." On home turf, the latest GfK survey showed that UK consumer confidence fell to a five-year low in December. GfK's long-running consumer confidence index slipped to -14 this month from -13 in November, in line with expectations, with three of the five measures used to calculate the overall scored down, and two up. Client strategy director Joe Staton said consumers were ending 2018 on a pessimistic note with Christmas cheer in short supply. "We are five points lower than this year’s opening score in January and were no higher than -7 this summer. This represents a more than five-year low for the index which has bumped along in negative territory since 2016. "In the face of ever-rising costs, and the threat of higher inflation combined with uncertainty around the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, it’s no surprise that consumers are in a chilly mood of despondency and putting on a glum face when they look at the prospects for 2019. Sad to say that an unhappy and uncertain New Year beckons despite good intentions from all points on the economic and political spectrum." The measure for the general economic situation of the country in the last 12 months dropped two points to -31 this month, its lowest level since December 2017. Meanwhile, the gauge of expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months fell by six points to -38. Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the drop in consumers’ confidence to a five-year low provides a very clear signal that the "calamitous" Brexit process will weigh heavily on GDP growth in the fourth quarter. "Looking ahead, consumers likely will remain despondent until a no-deal Brexit is averted, but the outlook for rising real wage growth, as inflation falls further, and further marginal declines in unemployment suggests that consumers should be more upbeat in six months’ time." Miners were the best performers on the FTSE 100, with BHP, Anglo American and Antofagasta all higher as copper prices rose. Anglo was also in focus as it said it had restarted operations at its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil after the discovery of two leaks in a slurry pipeline earlier in the year led to a shutdown. Just Eat was the standout gainer, however, as Takeaway.com agreed to buy larger rival Delivery Hero's German business in a €930m deal. On the downside, plastic packaging specialist RPC Group slipped after pushing back the deadline once again for private equity firm Apollo Global Management to make a takeover offer. Apollo had been due to announce a firm intention to make an offer for the company on Friday, but RPC said that the takeovers panel had extended the deadline to 18 January in order for discussions to continue. Centrica nudged lower after the British Gas owner said it would mount a legal challenge against the upcoming energy price cap, arguing that it has not been fairly calculated. | | | | | MERRY CHRISTMAS For a limited time only we are offering a 2 week FREE Trial of our Trading Alerts. Register now | | | | Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers| Sponsored by Interactive Investor | 
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| | | | | Are you looking for a profitable trading strategy? Do you have 20 minutes a day to follow this strategy? Yes! Then you need to watch this session. In fact for the past 6 months this strategy has been averaging +1275 pips per month! Book A Free Place To Find Out More | | | Europe open: Stocks open lower on Wall St, Asia sell-off | | | | | European shares opened lower on Friday on the back of the continued slump in US markets and weaker Asian markets overnight. At the opening bell the pan-European Stoxx 600 had slipped almost 1.5% as all major European bourses fell into marginal red territory. The sell-off on Wall Street continued overnight as the Dow fell almost 2%. Investors are worried about a global economic slowdown, the continuing trade dispute between China and the US and a potential government shutdown in Washington. Fears over an upward trend in US interest rates, which went up again this week, have also dampened sentiment, which was reflected in falls on Asian markets. Dankse Bank and national peer Jyske Banke were both leading fallers on Friday. Shares in Danske, at the centre of an international investigation into alleged money laundering, fell as it cut its 2018 outlook for the second time this year, citing challenging market conditions on financial markets. Denmark's biggest lender said it expects net profit for the year of around DKK15bn, down from the DKK16bn-17bn previously forecast. Delivery Hero shares led the risers after the world's biggest online food delivery firm on Thursday said it was selling its German food delivery operations to Netherlands-based Takeaway.com for €930m (£840m). The deal value includes €508m in cash and 9.5m shares in Takeaway.com worth €422m. The news pulled along shares in UK online delivery service Just Eat. Vodafone shares fell as the company said it was Vodafone confirmed on Friday it was sacking PricewaterhouseCoopers over litigation concerns, though it was not doing so immediately. Rumours had been swirling for several days that the FTSE 100 telecoms giant would seek a new auditor, given the threat of litigation from PwC against Vodafone, over the failure of mobile retailer Phones 4U. "While PwC are assessed as independent and will continue as the group's statutory auditors for the year ending 31 March 2019, it is uncertain how this matter may evolve and whether future developments may give rise to risks to audit independence," the Vodafone board said in its statement. | | | US close: Wall Street rout continues as interest rate hikes weigh on sentiment | | | | | US stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, following on from losses seen in the previous session on the back of a less dovish than expected rate announcement by the Federal Reserve. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.99% to 22,859.60, while the S&P 500 lost 1.58% to 2,467.41 and the Nasdaq moved 1.63% weaker to 6,528.41. The Dow ended more than 400 points lower on Thursday, following on from the 15-month low seen at the end of the previous session after the Fed hiked interest rates by 25 basis points for the fourth time this year, but lowered projections for future rate hikes and economic growth and downplayed the recent turmoil in financial markets. The US central bank said it now expects two more rate hikes next year, down from a previous projection of three, but disappointing market participants who were pricing in just one. The Fed also cut its GDP growth estimate for this year by 0.1 percentage points to 3%, while 2019 growth outlook was reduced by 0.2 percentage points to 2.3%. Deutsche Bank said: "The post-meeting statement, the dots and the press conference, combined, came across as a relatively balanced step in a more dovish direction for the Fed, but less so than the market was expecting." "Although more rate hikes are likely coming, the timing is now less certain, as the Fed has clearly moved closer to slowing the current pace of tightening. Further rate hikes will increasingly be driven by both the incoming data and the performance of financial markets as they influence the economic outlook." In other news, West Texas Intermediate fell 4.38% to $46.06 a barrel and Brent Crude dropped 4.54% to $54.64. The USD slumped 0.42% against the GBP to 0.7898. Over on the corporate front, Accenture lost 4.94% in the session after the release of its first-quarter results, while Conagra Brands tumbled 16.53% after its second-quarter numbers. Walgreens Boots Alliance lost 5.02% despite its quarterly earnings and revenue beating analysts’ expectations, while BlackBerry had collected 2.72% by the end of the day after posting a better-than-expected quarterly profit. In data news, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, according to data from the Labor Department. US initial jobless claims were up 8,000 to 214,000, falling a little short of expectations for a reading of 216,000. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average fell by 2,750 to 222,000. The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market. Continuing claims - which represent the number of people already collecting unemployment benefits - increased to 1.688m from 1.661m the week before, versus expectations of 1.665. The four-week moving average came in at 1.673m, up 6,750 from the previous week's unrevised average. Elsewhere, manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly deteriorated in December, to a more than two-year low, according to a survey released on Thursday. The Philadelphia Fed current manufacturing activity index fell to 9.4 from 12.9 in November, hitting its lowest level since August 2016, with more than 26% of manufacturers reporting increases in overall activity this month, while 17% reported declines. The new orders index increased five points to 14.5 but remains notably lower than its average reading for the year. Meanwhile, the current shipments index was down 12 points to 10.0 - its lowest reading in 27 months. Both the unfilled orders and delivery times indices were positive this month, suggesting higher unfilled orders and slower delivery times. | | | Friday newspaper round-up: Chaotic Brexit, takeover warning, retail surge | | | | | Officials are planning to tell Britons to change what they eat in the event of a chaotic Brexit because Whitehall predicts that some sources of fresh food from European Union countries would be cut off. The government has begun detailed planning on food supplies if Britain leaves without a deal and has identified a number of sites for massive hangars to stockpile food, including one near Carlisle and others in Scotland and on the south coast. - The Times England’s chief medical officer has called on the government to consider imposing taxes on foods high in sugar and salt, as it has done with sugary drinks, and accused the food industry of failing to help deliver healthier diets. In her annual report, Dame Sally Davies said tougher action was needed. Obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes were taking a huge toll of health and the economy, she said, and a voluntary agreement with the industry to lower sugar and salt content had not worked. - Guardian Police are considering shooting down the drone causing chaos at Gatwick Airport as passengers face disruption for a third day. On Friday morning, the airport re-opened its runway after 36 hours to "a limited number of flights" due to "additional mitigating measures" from the Government and the military, according to Gatwick's chief executive. - Telegraph Britain’s car manufacturing output fell by almost a fifth in November, as Brexit worries and weakening demand in key markets affected the industry. Car manufacturing declined by 19.6% in November compared to the same month in 2017, a steeper decline than the 10% year-on-year fall that occurred in October, according to industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). - Guardian A senior politician has warned that the government’s proposed new takeover rules could lead to conflicts between business and defence interests in Britain and must be properly implemented. Rachel Reeves, MP, chairwoman of the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee, said that although the government was proposing a bigger role for ministerial intervention in certain foreign takeovers, it was still unclear how it planned to implement the new rules or whether it even had the resources to manage the expanded regime. - The Times The owner of British Gas is to bring a legal challenge against Ofgem, accusing it of setting the energy price cap too low, costing Britain’s biggest supplier £70 million. Centrica last night said it was seeking a judicial review against the regulator over how it calculated wholesale costs that suppliers face when it set the cap. - The Times Retailers are hoping for a surge in sales this weekend as shoppers switch from ordering online to hitting the high street for last minute Christmas purchases. Friday is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year for non-food retailers, with about a fifth more shoppers visiting high streets, retail parks and shopping centres than on a typical day. - Guardian Councils will have to cut more services without extra funding once new arrangements to give them greater financial independence come into force after 2020, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned. Libraries, children’s social services, public health, housing and bin collections could be at risk as social care costs swallow up local authority budgets. - The Times A recently floated peer-to-peer business lender lost a fifth of its market value yesterday after a leading analyst raised the alarm over the quality of the loans arranged on Funding Circle’s platform. Citi, the Wall Street bank, warned that “evidence of a credit deterioration” had raised doubts over the group’s ability to continue growing at its current breakneck pace. - The Times Prosecutors in Japan have re-arrested Carlos Ghosn, possibly ending any hopes the former Nissan chairman had of an early release from detention over financial misconduct allegations. Ghosn, who has been detained for more than a month, was re-arrested on Friday morning on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust and could face another 10 days in detention. - Guardian Staff working at KPMG have complained about being treated like children after the accountancy firm said that it would punish them for missing deadlines to file important paperwork. The Big Four accountant said employees who failed to complete their timesheets — a log of how many hours they have spent working on projects that are submitted each week — would be fined £100. - The Times | |
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