Posts from — May 2010

Financial Market Comments from Will Hedden, Sales Trader, IG Index.

In mid-morning trade shares in London are up again, following a strong performance in New York on Thursday.

Most of today’s gains by the FTSE so far can be put down to a very strong performance by shares on Wall Street. Aside from this it has been a somewhat quiet start to the day over here, with many people winding down ahead of the long weekend.

It is another fairly broad rally with retailers enjoying much of the strength early on, despite yesterday’s disappointing UK sales figures.

BP still remains unloved and is the biggest loser on the day, as it is unclear how successful the latest attempts have been to stem the Gulf leak.

Recent days have seen a turnaround in the share price as investors seem to feel that real progress is being made. However, with the threat of a US government-imposed punishment hanging over them, it is not too surprising that brief rallies in BP will tempt the sellers back in.

Looking ahead to the US open, at the moment we are expecting the Dow to start off broadly unchanged today.

With stock market indices managing to recover to their best levels for the week, investors will be happy if we end up seeing a calm finish to the day and an end some of the recent dramatic swings.

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 and 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.

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Good Luck!

DB

Financial Market Comments from Will Hedden, Sales Trader, IG Index.

In mid-morning trade, the UK’s blue-chip index is a little under 1% ahead to 5084.89.

So far today the FTSE has opened higher than anticipated, with miners once again faring well, helped by a rise in commodity prices.

Shortly after 10am (London time) BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys, Lonmin and Fresnillo were all up in excess of 3%.

However, leading the index was investment services firm Man Group, up 6.4% to 229p, after unveiling annual pre-tax profits ahead of consensus forecasts.

There’s a general feeling among traders that there are still bargains to be had following the loss of more than 800 points at Wednesday’s close, the FTSE reached 5753 on 26 April.

Nevertheless, arguably of greater significance for the longer-term is the fact that the two great weights currently dragging down global markets, Eurozone debt woes and rising tensions between North and South Korea, appear to have eased slightly today.

This triple combination of factors is propelling the FTSE and other Euro markets higher for now, but like the Lord’s wicket greeting the summer’s first cricket Test this morning, there is sure to be plenty of movement ahead.

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 and 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 the FTSE is up around 93 points as banks and miners lead a rally in London.

The UK’s blue chip index is back up above the 5000 mark after yesterday’s eight-month lows, partly inspired by a significant rebound on Wall Street and a calmer trading session in Asia overnight.

It seems many investors think yesterday’s vicious sell-off might have been overdone, and that predictions of a collapse in the global banking system were erroneous.

As a result, banks have recovered somewhat, with Lloyds leaping to the top of the leader board after adding 4.55% to its price.

Positive noises coming out of Rio Tinto‘s AGM also buoyed the mining sector, with Rio Tinto, Lonmin, Kazakhyms and Xstrata all making gains.

Elsewhere, ex-dividend factors sent retailer Next and energy giant International Power to the bottom of the pile.

Markets still look shaky, however, and with today’s recovery driven by stocks that are reliant on economic growth, investors are likely to still be pretty nervous about short and long term prospects.

As we head into the bank holiday weekend, traders may relax a little but any further bad news about Eurozone debt or an impending Korean war will probably see another session of panicky risk aversion.

US durable goods and new homes data later today will also be scrutinised closely for any signs that US economic growth is on the wane.

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 and 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 trade, London has kicked off with heavy losses from the start.

The FTSE 100 index is down by around 2.5% with only traditional defensive stocks managing to avoid a mauling. There a combination of factors pulling the rug out from under the market this morning.

European debt concerns are brought to the fore again as four of Spain’s banks have been pushed into a merger by the government in a move to try and strengthen the regions financial institutions.

Added to this are increased tensions between North and South Korea on reports that the North has gone onto military alert.

This has pushed the FTSE 100 down to its worst levels since September 2009 and the fact that GDP was revised upwards today has barely registered.

So much is still unknown about the European debt situation and the Eurozone holds the status of one of the UK’s absolutely key trading partners. As a result, it may well be out of the UK’s hands as to how the economic recovery progresses from here.

With a new crisis seeming to appear on a regular basis it is not too surprising that investors are seeking the safety of cash until the dust settles. Unfortunately, this could well be a process that takes months rather than weeks.

Looking ahead to the US open, at the moment we are expecting the Dow Jones to start off around 220 points lower than Monday’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 and 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.