Posts from — October 2009

Financial Market Comments from David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index.

In mid-morning trading the FTSE is slightly ahead as markets consolidate Thursday’s gains.

There’s not much change for UK shares today as traders choose to keep their powder dry ahead of a slew of announcements due out from the USA later in the day.

After worrying that, once again, shares prices had got slightly ahead of economic reality, many are hoping that yesterday’s positive US GDP data will have put a floor under the recent slide and that markets can once again target fresh highs for this 7-month recovery.

Looking ahead to the US session this afternoon we have, amongst others, PMI and Michigan Sentiment data due to be released.

At the moment overnight trading suggests a slightly weaker start for the Dow Jones, currently down around 30 points, but after yesterday’s rally it seems that any weakness today should be treated as a buying opportunity and a return to 10,000 may well be on the cards.

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.

During morning trading in London, the FTSE has so far failed to bounce back from yesterday’s 2% drop.

Oil majors are weighing heavily on the index for the second day running. Shell, the largest oil company in Europe by market value, announced 5000 job cuts after releasing a 73% reduction in year-on-year profit over the three months to September.

The company’s share price was down 3.64% by 10am in London as it said it was not expecting a swift recovery.

On the other side of the FTSE, banks are showing a little more resilience; RBS and Lloyds were up 6.84% and 4.49% respectively. Miners are also largely on the right side of the index today.

Over the past weeks – and specifically the past few days – there has been a sea change in investor mood. Throughout the rally that saw the UK’s leading index break 5000 points, there was talk of equities being overbought given the uncertain economic backdrop.

This possibility now seems to have been brought home by a number of worse-than-expected pieces of data, both from the US and in the UK. Today’s losses for oil majors are a case in point; without a fundamental and worldwide demand for crude, investors feel that oil business equities are looking overbought at current levels.

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 mid-morning trading UK shares are falling steadily, with the UK’s flagship FTSE 100 index down around 60 points at 10am.

Indeed financial markets are weaker across the board, following falls across Asian markets last night, though the Dow Jones managed to edge 14 points higher.

The influential US consumer confidence index fell sharply on Tuesday, surprising analysts who had anticipated little change or a small rise.

Added to this, UK financials are struggling today – RBS, Lloyds and Barclays are all around 3% weaker – after Australia’s national bank reported worse-than-expected bad debt figures.

Investors were also hit with a third blow after BG Group unveiled a 44% drop in third-quarter profit, its share price sliding 2%.

For the moment financial markets have clearly stagnated, with a realisation hitting home that all the warnings of a return to growth being a long and painfully slow process are not just hot air.

The huge growth in unemployment on both sides of the Atlantic is certainly hard to ignore, and has clearly affected the latest US consumer outlook.

The FTSE has now slid to a three-week low, while the Dow Jones is struggling to tread water above the 10,000 level.

There is a growing sense that the comeback has been too much, and the question is whether the FTSE can now hold steady amid the current negativity.

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 mid-morning trading, UK indices are showing clear signs of pressure, with the financial sector once again mired in controversy.

The Bulls appear to have let the Bears take centre-stage again today, with RBS and Lloyds down 6.72% and 5.53% respectively just after 10am.

This is due to investors’ concern that the two part-government-controlled banks may be forced to sell assets in return for the state aid they have received; which obviously spells bad news for the sector.

Barclays, which shirked aid money, has also been caught up in the storm, unfortunately falling 3.8% at 339.2p today.

Europe’s second-largest oil company BP has managed to buck the negative sentiment, on the other hand, rising 4.51% after posting better-than-expected third-quarter results.

The company has also raised its cost-cutting target for the year, causing shares to surge to a 16-month high.

US investors, meanwhile, are being kept very busy, as nearly 1000 companies announce their results this week.

For today, though, sentiment in Wall Street might take a turn for the better if the S&P Case-Shiller house price index and consumer confidence figures throw up positive results.

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 mid-morning trading, UK shares are broadly positive on what has been, so far, an uneventful day.

The FTSE 100 is trading around the highs of the day with no one sector really dominating the top of the table.

Shire is one of the main leaders, confirming the US Food and Drug Administration is giving the company’s attention deficit drug five-year exclusivity.

But traders are already becoming a bit cynical about how long this strength will last – over the past 18 months the shares have regularly run out of steam ahead of the 1100p mark and there are early signs of sellers moving in after the sharp initial gains this morning.

At the moment the FSTE 100 is trading roughly where it was a week ago, echoing the loss of momentum we have seen among shares recently.

Despite this, whenever we have seen sell-offs there still appears to be a steady pool of buyers only too happy to step back in.

The outlook remains positive and further gradual progress is expected – with a break through the 5300 mark for the FTSE looking entirely possible in the coming days.

Wall Street also looks set for a positive start this afternoon and ahead of the open we are expecting the Dow Jones index to start-off around 40 points better than Friday’s close.

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.