Posts from — September 2009

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

In mid-morning trading the FTSE 100 is currently up on the day, trading at around the 5160 level.

Among the leaders this morning are the miners, with both Xstrata and Kazakhmys up as demand for commodities is being supported by weakness in the Dollar.

Standard Life also finds itself among the winners this morning following news that it has come to a new five-year arrangement with Citigroup to continue using its global transaction service as its principle fund administration. This bolstered investor confidence in Standard Life, which rose 2.36%.

While we have recently seen positive notes that the UK economy is growing – signalled by the breaking of the 5000 barrier – a note of caution came today from the CBI.

Predicting a growth of 0.3% between July and September next year, compared with the same months this year, the CBI said that a lack of demand makes it hard to foresee any rapid growth.

The major concern is the expectation that the number of unemployed will continue to rise to a peak of around 3 million in the second quarter of next year.

So any growth will be seen as fragile for the time being. Looking to the US, investors will be hoping that optimism surrounding the Fed’s interest rate decision later today is well founded.

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.

In mid-morning London trading, we are seeing the buyers returning after Monday’s sell-off.

The FTSE 100 index is not a million miles away from the highs seen towards the end of last week, bouncing back from yesterday’s decline.

As has so often been the case over recent months, it is a mining-led rally so far today, with commodity strength in Asian trading lifting the likes of Eurasian Natural Resources and Fresnillo to the top of the leader board.

RBS is slightly higher, despite some worries over its rumoured rights issue and questions over how popular this would be with shareholders.

The bank seems to have lost some of its appeal for traders over the past month or so and in the short-term at least this uncertainty seems likely to steer traders to other sector stable mates like Barclays.

Today’s recovery shows that sentiment still looks to be positive amongst investors, with plenty of traders apparently willing to step in and buy the dips.

Looking ahead to the US market, at the moment we are expecting the Dow Jones Industrials index to start around 60 points higher.

On a week that is somewhat quiet for economic news we may see further choppy trading for stock markets, but there is no doubt that for now the trend remains up.

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 FTSE has started the week sluggishly, down close to 40 points.

Kazakhmys and Rio Tinto are two miners dragging the FTSE low this morning, with the former’s share price cooled by a downgrade by Citigroup analysts.

Banks are also in focus. RBS is mulling over a ‘modest-sized’ share issue, and has been putting out feelers to gauge investor appetite for one.

Another bank looking to a share issue to limit their involvement in the Government’s new Asset Protection Scheme is Lloyds, but they made the news for a different reason this morning.

The troubled bank is again on the defensive after it was announced that it is to be investigated by British tax officials for allegedly advising wealthy UK clients to channel money through China for tax purposes.

Meanwhile investors are clearly booking profits on Tullow Oil, after the oil firm’s strong gains last week.

On the up are more defensive stocks, with utilities Pennon Group and Scottish power helping to limit the index’s losses.

Going well too is Marks and Spencer, perhaps canny investors are speculating on the likely reaction to the imminent announcement of a new chief executive.

After the adrenalin of last week and the notes of caution and complacency warnings proliferating, it was perhaps inevitable that more investors would choose to book profits than not so far today.

That said, we’re still starting off from a pretty firm-footing and as the week continues it’ll be interesting to see if the positive sentiment continues and whether investors have the stomach for the next assault, the 5200 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.

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

Midway through the morning session and the FTSE 100 is struggling to find any meaningful direction.

There’s clearly a conflict going on right now with some traders feeling it’s time to book profits, but the sentiment is far from universal – something that’s being relayed by the fact the London top flight is carrying less than a 10 point loss a couple of hours into the session.

Fundamental data has been very thin on the ground this morning but miners are feeling some strain after the 20% rally we’ve seen in the sector over the last month.

Gold also seems to be checking its recent gains which will also be taking some of the shine off the sector.

The one economic announcement we’ve seen today was the UK public sector borrowing and although the headline net borrowing figure came in a little lower than expected, it did nothing to offer further confidence for the Pound.

On a similar theme, attempts by Lloyds Banking Group to withdraw in part from the Government’s Asset Protection scheme will also be closely watched and could offer some direction for the sector in what is otherwise shaping up to be a quiet end to the week.

There’s nothing of note due from across the Atlantic either and current expectations are for the Dow to open less than 10 points lower while the S&P looks broadly unchanged.

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.

Coming up to mid-morning, the FTSE is trading up 30 points, with trading slow and steady. The banks have put in a strong performance this morning.

British Airways is also doing well, up almost 4% after Goldman Sachs upgraded it to a ‘buy’. The airline industry has had a tough time recently but the strength is now coming back to the sector.

The market has taken the poor UK retail figures in its stride – the FTSE up over 25% since its recent spurt from the 13th of July.

Attention is now turning to whether this is sustainable long-term. Volumes are comparatively lower at the moment – trading around 27bn shares for the last two months, while in March, which was a busy month, 39bn shares were traded.

This could explain some of the rapid gains and would suggest that the market is getting ahead of itself and due for a correction, but the momentum is still on the upside and it would take a brave man to sell against it.

Looking to the US open, we are calling the Dow Jones to open at the 9800 level, with the possibility of hitting the 10000 level by next-week looking not unrealistic.

Jobless claims figures could be the impetus needed to drive toward this figure should they indicate that less people are seeking benefits.

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.