Category — Financial Outlook

In mid-morning trade the FTSE 100 is up 16 points, although the atmosphere remains fairly quiet ahead of important US data out later.

A slow start to the morning was re-energised by the UK services PMI, always the most closely-watched of the three indices on the UK economy.

This figure, which tracks the performance of the largest element of the UK economy, beat expectations, rising to its highest level since March.

This has buoyed hopes that the UK will skirt around another recession, although it will be quite a close run thing.

Mining stocks are holding the index back this morning, after a general surge for the sector yesterday on the back of news of the Glencore/Xstrata tie up.

On the other hand, BT is on the up following news that it would reach its 2013 earnings targets a year earlier than expected.

As is to be expected on Non Farm Payrolls day, US futures are fairly subdued, with the Dow Jones futures markets suggesting a start of 12 points higher after a very quiet session last night.

Dominating the day is the US Non Farm Payrolls data; the present expectation is for the US to have added 140,000 jobs in January, a lower figure than the strong December report.

Volatility is likely to remain low until these figures are out, with traders opting to sit and await news rather than heavily commit themselves.

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.

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

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.

The FTSE is taking a break from its current run higher this morning, down around 12 points for the session so far.

Slightly disappointing numbers from Shell meant that the index started the day lower, although news of deal activity among the miners kept it from losing too much ground.

The prospect of a tie-up between Glencore and Xstrata enlivened the sector, helping to offset the negative atmosphere generated by Shell and by consumer products giant Unilever, which predicted a difficult year ahead and only just met 2011 sales forecasts.

Also on stellar form for FTSE shares this morning is medical devices manufacturer Smith & Nephew, which has gained over 5% following strong results.

US markets gave back some of their early gains last night, although the session still ended in a reasonably bullish fashion.

On the economic front, we have weekly jobless data for the US out today, while Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will speak before the Congressional Budget Committee later in the afternoon.

At present, the Dow is expected to start almost unchanged, just 2 points higher.

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.

Financial Market Comments from Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst, IG Index.

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.

In mid-morning trade, the FTSE 100 has moved back on to the front foot, up almost 80 points thanks to stronger Chinese data.

Bulls in the stock market have had a rather trying week so far, and they had looked to today’s economic figures from China to provide the necessary impetus to lift markets.

Their patience was well-rewarded; manufacturing figures from the Asian titan moved back into expansion territory, easing fears that the new workshop of the world was undergoing a slowdown.

This good start to the day was followed up by manufacturing data from Germany and the UK, both of which showed improvement for January.

ICAP was one of the big gainers this morning, up 8% as investors ignored the profit warning and focused on the prediction of increased activity for 2012.

Attention now shifts to the afternoon session, where the US will join in the manufacturing reporting with its own January figures.

Also up on the calendar is the ADP employment number for January, widely seen as the precursor to Friday’s Non Farm Payrolls figure.

Last month the ADP figure caught everyone out, smashing through expectations.

Today’s forecast is for a gain of 185,000, and this will need to be met if today’s rally is not to prove as short-lived as yesterday’s.

Facebook, the social networking giant, is expected to file its IPO documents today, which could provide a fillip to tech stocks.

US stock markets are expected to open substantially higher, with the Dow Jones forecast to start up 98 points.

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.

Financial Market Comments from Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst, IG Index.

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.

In mid-morning trade, FTSE 100 spreads have bounced back strongly and are trading near the highs of the day.

After yesterday’s gloomy performance that saw the index have its worst day in six weeks, the positive sentiment has returned today following a solid performance by US shares for most of yesterday’s session.

Apple supplier ARM Holdings is the biggest gainer so far after reporting a 37% jump in pre-tax profit.

The share price is trading just below 12 month highs and this has been quite a barrier to any progress.

As a result, some may end up treating today’s news as an opportunity to take some money off the table.

Looking ahead to the US open, pre-market trading suggests the Dow Jones is set to start around 70 points higher.

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.

Financial Market Comments from Rupert Osborne, Futures Dealer, IG Index.

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.

In mid-morning trade, UK shares spread betting markets are under some pressure with the FTSE slipping below 5700.

With the little local difficulty of RBS bonus payments resolved for now, attention has moved back to the bigger picture and the all too familiar concerns of European debt.

The latest European summit is set to start later today and the market seems to be starting to tire of news that a Greek deal is very nearly almost done. As a result, it looks like investors are happy to stand aside for now and see if any progress is made in the coming days.

There are signs of some defensive positioning going on with the likes of GlaxoSmithKline, Vodafone and AstraZeneca sitting near the top of the table, but this is doing little to counter the weakness in banking and financial stocks.

Looking ahead to the US open at the moment we are expecting the Dow to start around 60 points lower 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.

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

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.