Posts from — June 2009

Financial Market Comments from Anthony Grech, IG Index.

The UK stock market is flat in early trading amid mixed economic news.

First of all, UK Gross Domestic Product shrunk more than expected in the first quarter, showing a drop of 2.4% – the biggest for 50 years.

However this news was tempered by a rise in UK Consumer Confidence, getting to its best levels since April last year. That suggests that, at least, there are some who think we are over the worst of the recession.

The lack of market reaction doesn’t come as a surprise – there seems to be a distinct lack of conviction in either direction for traders at the moment and low volatility is the order of the day.

US markets appear more buoyant than their UK counterparts and further strength from over the pond yesterday seems to be offsetting the more downbeat look that has dogged London for the past few days.

Looking ahead to the US session, we are expecting the Dow Jones to start broadly unchanged from yesterday’s close. With the US’s own Consumer Confidence numbers due out just after the open, we could well see a boost of much-needed volatility.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Good Luck!

DB

The above comments do not constitute investment advice Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.

Financial Market Comments from Tim Hughes, Head of Sales Trading, IG Index.

In early London trading, UK stocks have got off to a positive start, with the FTSE 100 up by around 10 points at mid-morning.

There has been a small flurry of M&A chatter helping the market tick along this morning, with National Express rejecting a bid from First Group and Vodafone apparently mulling over a possible T-Mobile takeover.

Apart from this, the market feels just how we left it last week – volumes are relatively low heading into the summer lull and there is not much commitment in either direction.

For all of last week the 4200 level underpinned the FTSE 100 index and this remains the level to watch this week, with a break below having the potential to accelerate further selling.

Looking ahead to the US, at the moment we are expecting the Dow Jones to open up broadly unchanged from Friday’s close.

With nothing of note on the economic calendar in the US today, and markets firmly stuck in narrow trading ranges over the last few days, it looks like it may well be, to put not too fine a point on it, a boring day ahead for traders.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Good Luck!

DB

The above comments do not constitute investment advice Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.

Unemployment levels are becoming an “Elephant in the room” subject as economists forever talk of Job losses as being yesterday’s number.

The problem with glossing over the employment numbers is that job creation over the last half a century has been dependent (after a recession) on robust lending.

The banks are not in a position to dole out the largesse this time around and we risk an endemic pool of unemployed for the foreseeable future. With some 800K school and university leavers over the next few months, 3 million looks to be the starting point for the second half of the year rather than the end point as was hoped only a few months ago.

We now have the highest number of people officially out of work for 12 years and this does not include the huge numbers now on incapacity or “job creation schemes” or other redefinitions of recent times or the vastly increased university pool.

With more and more people now worried for their futures, the savings rate (already at a 15 year high in the States) is likely to put further pressure on the UK’s service sector economy. The UK’s mantra of ‘spend today for tomorrow may never come’ seems to be finally losing its grip.

Also see today’s market update, Spread Trading.

Doing our bit, we do currently have one role we are looking to fill at Clean Financial, see Spread Betting Jobs.

Risk Warning: Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Good Luck!

DB

The above comments do not constitute investment advice Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Article provided / approved by Capital Spreads which is a trading name of London Capital Group Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), FSA Register number 182110.

Financial Market Comments from Philip Gillet, Sales Trader, IG Index.

UK stocks continue their steady recovery in mid-morning trading, with the FTSE 100 up around 30 points.

The main factor for today’s lift was the strong finish to US trading yesterday, which ensured a positive start for the London session.

Miners are also enjoying another good day with the likes of Xstrata and Kazakhmys near the top of blue chip gainers.

This sector has been hit hard over the past couple of weeks with investors feeling that the hope of a sooner-than-expected global recovery was premature.

At the moment the mining sector sell-off is looking a little overdone and traders seem happy to bet on a further bounce-back from this sector over the next few days, which should help underpin the index.

In the short-term the positive momentum that has lifted the FTSE 100 from Monday’s lows near the 4200 mark is still intact. However it is difficult to see much of an extended recovery for the broader market.

There is scope for the FTSE 100 Index to extend the current recovery up above the 4300 mark, but it still looks like the negative sentiment that hit markets over the past couple of weeks could well stifle any run back to the May highs.

The worry is that the markets had got a bit ahead of the economic recovery over recent months.

A cautionary tone from the Bank of England, saying that financial institutions are not yet immune to further shocks, is unlikely to inspire a gung-ho attitude to risk among investors.

Looking ahead to the US session, at the moment we are expecting a slightly softer start for the Dow Jones index, currently trading down around 20 points from last night’s close.

Like the UK market this rally could have a bit further to run, but due to the way investor sentiment has shifted, it would be over optimistic to think we are going to see the highs from earlier this month tested any time soon.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Good Luck!

DB

The above comments do not constitute investment advice Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.

Financial Market Comments from Philip Gillet, Sales Trader, IG Index.

Coming up to 11am (London time), the FTSE is slightly lower on the day, with downward pressure coming from banks and miners.

The markets are once again trading in a tight range after the FOMC decision last evening.

There was very little surprise in their assessment that rates should be kept on hold; after all, housing data from the US has only just started to show any sign of recovery, with mortgage applications coming off their 7-month lows last week.

The market seems unconvinced though, to-ing and fro-ing like a caged animal waiting to break loose.

Global equity indices have found stability, but attention now seems to be focusing on the longer-term problems building up, like deflation and rising global unemployment.

This issue leads us to the US, where jobless claims are published this afternoon. There were signs that the US job market was starting to stabilise last week, with an improvement in weekly jobs figures.

Traders will be looking for further signs that the jobs market is staging a recovery and that the more positive noises coming from the FED are well founded.

Also see Indices Spread Betting.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Good Luck!

DB

The above comments do not constitute investment advice Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.