Spread Betting on UK Markets March - IG Index Comment
Spread Betting on UK Markets March
UK Market Comment, 20 Mar
Closing comments from David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index:
Going into the last hour of trading the FTSE 100 is negative on the day but still continuing to claw back some of the losses from yesterday.
In terms of volatility, today has been much quieter than what we have been used to recently. Rentokil has been the big mover to the upside as news of a major management shakeup has been well received by the City. This has managed to lift the share price off multi year lows but with it still a good 40% lower than where it was a year ago, it remains to be seen whether this is just a flash in the pan or if it does represent that the corner has been truly turned.
HBOS was the other big gainer on the day, up by more than 4% so far as the stock continued to recover following yesterday’s sharp fall on rumour mongering. All of the discussion about market rumours has raised some important questions amongst the more cynical market commentators. If rumours causing share prices to fall are going to be investigated, then are rumours that result in share prices going up, for example regarding potential takeovers, going to be given the same weight? If so, market regulators should be kept very busy.
But back to the markets...we look set to end the week once again having pulled back from the brink. But the downtrend that has been in place since mid-October for UK stocks is still intact and we continue to see rallies proving to be short-lived. Traders and investors, for now at least, still seem to view any bounces as opportunities to get out at better prices – rather than as a sign of confidence that better things are just around the corner. It seems unlikely that the bull market is going to be resurrected any time soon and for now sentiment still remains nervous, if not quite out-and-out negative.
The above comments do not constitute investment advice and neither IG Index nor Clean Financial accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of them.
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UK Market Comment, 19 Mar
Closing comments from Anthony Grech, Market Analyst, IG Index:
Going into the final minutes of trading in the UK it has been another volatile session that has ultimately seen the earlier strength fade.
The UK had some catching up to do on the back of the big rally seen in the USA last night following the interest rate cut. Minutes from the Bank of England released today showed that two of the committee voted for an interest rate cut. This, plus the US cut and the ongoing financial crisis has all added to market hopes that we will see a UK cut sooner rather than later.
Today has maybe seen a touch of reality return to stocks. After the strong gains that saw the FTSE 100 rally 200+ points from Monday lows there is a feeling that investors are back to focusing on the economic fundamentals, which are still somewhat downbeat. Global stock markets are some way below the highs seen in February and at the moment it looks like rallies are still being sold into as investors continue to be skeptical about how sustainable these bounces really are.
The above comments do not constitute investment advice and neither IG Index nor Clean Financial accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of them.
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'Spread Betting on UK Markets March' by DJ, updated 20-Mar-08
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