Posts from — August 2009

Financial Market Comments from Anthony Grech, Market Strategist, IG Index.

In mid-morning trading it has been a strong performance so far, with the FTSE 100 up around 70 points.

Rarely out of the spotlight, focus today is even more firmly on the mining sector, with Rio Tinto announcing first half results. It said that profits were down by 65% following weaker commodity prices – a number slightly worse than the market was expecting.

The company remained upbeat on the outlook and once again it looks like investors are happy to focus on the positives and ignore the negatives – mining shares are enjoying another day of decent gains.

Investors still seem to have the view that there is more to come from this sector and dips are being treated as opportunities to buy in.

Looking ahead to the US session, at the moment we are expecting the Dow Jones Industrials to open around 50 points higher from last night’s close, continuing the claw back of the heavy losses suffered by world stock markets at the beginning of the week.

Initial claims data is the major economic announcement in the USA today with a reading of 550,000 expected here.

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 Anthony Grech, Market Strategist, IG Index.

At mid-morning the London index remains under pressure, although a modest rebound off session lows has been seen.

Yesterday’s gains on the FTSE have been completely eroded as overnight selling in China has combined with concerns that equity markets are simply looking overbought as the summer draws to a close.

However, any profit taking we have seen so far has been relatively limited and even the surprise content of the BoE meeting minutes – that the agreed increase in QE was far from unanimous – has failed to push the stock market any lower, at least for the time being.

With limited economic data due for release in the coming hours from either side of the Atlantic – the one exception being the low-profile CBI industrial trends data – trader sentiment is going to become increasingly important.

Also with the Dow currently eyeing a 70 point drop when trading starts on Wall Street, this could well act as a trigger for further selling in London.

Traders need to remain mindful of the potential for lower trade counts to impact prices – yesterday was the third day in succession that the FTSE 100 saw volumes under 1 billion – although tomorrow’s retail sales figures will at least ensure there’s something worth looking out for in the final half of the week.

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 Anthony Grech, Market Strategist, IG Index.

In mid-morning trading, UK shares have bounced back to recover some of yesterday’s losses.

After yesterday’s sharp drop, an element of calm has returned to the stock market today with the FTSE 100 nudging back up towards the 4700 mark.

It is the usual suspects leading the market higher: miners are the top five blue chip gainers at the moment. These were heavily hit yesterday as investors revised their outlook for the pace of economic recovery in the wake of disappointing growth numbers for Japan, but it looks like this sell-off has so far been viewed as an opportunity to buy into stocks such as Xstrata and Rio Tinto.

The share prices of many of the miners have all hit fresh highs for the year in the past month and it would appear that some people still have the view that there are even more gains to come from the sector.

UK inflation data has not dented this morning’s recovery – the CPI reading came in at 1.8% for July which was the same as June, despite many analysts expecting a drop.

Looking ahead to the US open, at the moment we are expecting the Dow Jones to open around 60 points higher than last night’s close. After yesterday’s sharp sell-off, the US session ended up being rather a quiet one in the end.

For the Dow, traders seem happy to keep their bullish outlook as long as the 9,000 level holds, and so at the moment it does not look too ambitious to expect a run back up to the 9,400 mark as the week unfolds.

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 David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index.

In early morning trading UK shares are down across the board with the FTSE off by around 90 points.

It’s a wall of red for blue chip stocks so far, with Morrison the only FTSE 100 company slightly ahead on the day.

Mining shares are the biggest losers on weaker commodities – this is always a volatile sector of course and has led the recovery over recent weeks.

The real test now is whether investors are happy to view this sell off as yet another opportunity to load up their holdings ahead of an anticipated push higher.

The news that Japan has come out of recession has not been enough to lift markets – growth was positive but not as strong as expected.

While today’s slide is so far the biggest fall seen on the UK index in six weeks, it was only at the end of last week that we saw the highest level reached so far this year.

At the moment, the broader recovery is still in place and it would not be a surprise to see shares claw back the lost ground over the next few days.

Looking ahead to the US open, at the moment it looks like the Dow Jones index is going to start off around 150 points lower at 9170.

While, like the FTSE, this is a heavy fall to start the week, only a slide below the 9000 level is likely to give investors cause for concern by suggesting that this could be the beginning of a significant move lower rather than just a brief correction in the recovery.

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 Anthony Grech, Market Strategist, IG Index.

In early morning trading the FTSE 100 is up around 18 points, reaching 4773 by 10.30 am (London time).

The property sector currently leads the charge, with both British Land co and Land Securities group among the early winners. British Land stocks have responded positively to reports in the Daily Telegraph that the company was potentially to be taken over by a consortium and stands at 513.00 points, a rise of 19.90 points on the day.

Kazakhmys, one of yesterday’s leaders, also continued its run. The miner was propelled further upwards by Goldman Sachs, who added Kazakhymys to its pan-European Conviction Buy List, and now sits at 941.50 points, a rise of 4.55%.

Recently both the UK and US markets has been heavily data-driven, with investors preferring to go off the back of hard figures as opposed to gut instinct.

The glut of better-than-expected releases we have seen recently has got the markets going again, with many analysts’ suggesting that we are now at the start of a recovery.

Today we have US CPI and Michigan sentiment data out and these releases may well spur the US market on. In the UK, however, there is not much data out there and it is debateable whether we will see a meaningful test of the 4800 level.

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.