Posts from — February 2010

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

Despite the potential for volatility, it has been a relatively quiet morning session for equities in London.

The FTSE rallied hard at the open after last night’s turn-around on Wall Street.

Lloyds Banking Group reported a disappointing operating loss of £6.3 billion for 2009, but this reading most certainly could have been worse.

The revision to the UK Q4 GDP number was also worth watching.

Critically a move back into negative territory was avoided, something that could have resulted in a significant bout of selling for UK stocks. As a result, the London blue chip index has been left to consolidate above the 5300 mark.

Much of the volatility we’re seeing is being influenced by sentiments from across the Atlantic.

US GDP data will be closely watched this afternoon, as will the Michigan sentiment reading, as the market continues to seek justification for Tuesday’s shocking US consumer confidence number.

With traders remaining edgy, it’s difficult to imagine we’re now in for a quiet run up to the weekend break.

We’ve already seen downward pressure on UK house prices, the Greek issue continues to spread concern across Europe and the Eurozone core CPI reading has missed forecasts this morning too.

The fact that we posted a decent GDP reading in the UK may be some cause for celebration, but it’s probably worth keeping the champagne on ice for the time being.

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 Gillett, Sales Trader, IG Index.

In mid-morning trading, the FTSE 100 is sitting around 18 points up on the day.

Somewhat predictably perhaps, RBS is dominating the headlines this morning after posting better-than-expected results for 2009.

The £3.6 billion loss was narrower than some experts had forecast, sending RBS to the top of the heap today – up 7.2% at 10.30am in London.

The bank’s stable mate, Lloyds, which posts its own results on Friday, was also up as the entire banking sector took a boost from the figures.

Fears over bad debts appear to have been more or less allayed, with the head of RBS, Stephen Hester, predicting that the bank would return to profit over the course of next year.

The banking sector genuinely appears to have turned a corner at this stage, with investor reaction to RBS’s pared losses adding to the optimism that came after Barclays reported its impressive second-half profit earlier this month.

If Lloyds follows the trend and performs ahead of expectations on Friday, we may well see traders queuing up to grab a slice of the action at what remain fairly bargain-basement prices in the sector.

It is worth remembering that the RBS share price has dropped 37% since August.

Nevertheless, investors will be aware that the road to recovery may well throw up a few more macroeconomic hurdles, with many keeping an eye on the way the government handles the burgeoning budget deficit.

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 Analyst, IG Index.

It’s been a relatively quiet morning for the FTSE 100, as the index tries to set a consistent course.

At 10.25am (London time) the FTSE was running flat on the morning, with no major movers in either direction.

Slight weakness among miners is being offset by banking and energy stocks currently, but firmer crude prices seem to have settled the index.

Vedanta (-1.09%) and Fresnillo (-1.40%) are among those deepest in the red, while HSBC (+1.07%) and Cairn Energy (+1.16%) are making modest gains.

Investors appear to be playing a waiting game, holding their positions ahead of what could be an action-packed second half of the week.

After two days of losses for London’s blue chips, the FTSE is evidently searching for meaningful direction.

This direction may be generated right here in the UK. Results from the likes of RBS and Lloyds later this week are likely to either reinforce, or not, the good health that Barclays suggested the financial sector is experiencing.

Investors will also be mapping a course according to the stars, and stripes.

The FTSE reacted to disappointing US consumer confidence figures yesterday. However, investors will be waiting for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s address to The House of Representatives and the Senate today and tomorrow over last week’s surprise decision to increase the discount rate for emergency loans.

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 Analyst, IG Index.

In mid-morning trading, blue chips have made a positive start but are still well off earlier highs.

Very briefly this morning the FTSE 100 index came within a few points of the 5400 level, its highest in over a month.

Since then the market has given up a significant portion of these gains, with German confidence data acting as the catalyst.

The IFO index for January came in worse than expected, with the cold weather in January hampering construction and retail activity.

The best FTSE performer this morning is Wolseley, up a whopping 11% on the back of a trading update. This showed that the builders merchant expects profits to exceed analysts’ expectations for the full year, pushing the share price back to levels not seen since January 2009.

Looking ahead to the US open we are anticipating the Dow Jones starting off broadly unchanged.

Consumer confidence data is due this afternoon in the States and expectations are that there will be a reading of 55 for February.

Stock markets are still positive, but the volatility we are seeing today looks to be a symptom of nerves creeping in after the sharp gains seen over the last couple of weeks.

Markets do look vulnerable to a correction from these levels but for now traders seem to be viewing this as just a potential buying opportunity.

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 Gillett, Sales Trader, IG Index.

Shares have made a quiet start to the week in early trading today.

At the mid-morning point in London the FTSE 100 is trading slightly higher on the day, with banks and mining stocks providing some lift for blue chips.

Bunzl is the top performer so far, up by more than 5% on strong full-year results. The company is also keeping investors sweet by upping its dividend.

Today’s strength has broken a fairly boring 5 month trading range for the Bunzl share price and has pushed it out to a 16-month high.

Pulling upwards are some momentum-based traders speculating that this is the start of the next recovery leg for the shares.

Looking ahead to the US, we are expecting the Dow Jones to start off around 10 points higher than Friday’s close.

With no major economic news due out today it could be something of a quiet session.

Over the last couple of weeks global stock markets have made steady gains so it would not be a surprise to see a positive session once again for US markets.

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.