Closing comments from Anthony Grech, Market Strategist, IG Index:
Going into the last few minutes of trading, it has been another positive day for the UK market with the FTSE 100 trading around the 5400 mark.
Although some gains have been given up during the day, earlier trading saw the blue-chip index back near the heady heights of 5450, not seen for over a week. Although today has been a little muted, the fact that the market has once again pushed higher will be seen by some as further confirmation that the near-5,000 level hit last week marked an interim low for the UK and a shift in sentiment.
Corporate and economic news was a bit thin on the ground on Monday with the main focus on HBOS, when it was revealed that only around 8% of shareholders chose to take part in its rights issue. With the underwriters left with a chunky amount of stock after this, many traders are taking the view that it is difficult to see that much upside in the short-term until this overhang is cleared. It could point to some rocky trading sessions ahead for the bank. In terms of the FTSE, the 5500 mark could prove to be the next big target, ending up as something of a crunch level. The test will be, if we get there, whether the market can push higher or if it turns out to be the end of this bear market rally.
How and where to spread bet on:
HBOS and where to find free HBOS charts, live prices etc >> HBOS Spread Betting
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, 18 Jul
Closing comments from David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index:
Going into the last few minutes of the trading day, the FTSE 100 is up around 60 points.
The bounce back has continued today, with another strong performance by the banking sector helping to keep sentiment positive. Once again RBS and Barclays have managed to notch up gains in excess of 8% so far, helping to offset weakness in the mining sector. Helping financials was news from US giant Citigroup of a smaller than expected loss in its second quarter.
In both points and percentage terms, the rally over the last few days is the strongest short term performance seen out of the FTSE 100 since the slide from 6400 began in May. So far, the FTSE 100 looks set to close around 100 points higher than where we ended last week. We have got used to rallies failing recently and it is still early days for the latest recovery, but there is still a feeling amongst some traders that for now at least, the worst may be over. There are some big potential hurdles that are going to be keenly watched as next week’s trading resumes. The most obvious one is the 5400 mark with a move through here suggesting that the market would have the legs to extend the recovery, possibly back as far as the mid July highs above 5500. While it is too early to say whether medium term the market is yet to turn lower still, the fact that the psychological 5,000 level managed to prop the market up sees the week ending on a much less negative note than we have been used to of late.
How and where to spread bet on:
RBS where to find free RBS charts, live pricing etc >> RBS Citigroup where to find free Citi charts, live pricing etc >> Citigroup
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, 17 Jul
Closing comments from David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index:
Going into the last few minutes of trading, the UK has had a good day with the FTSE trading up around the 5300 mark.
Once again it was the financials that dictated a lot of the market movement with the likes of RBS and Barclays notching up gains in excess of 9% so far. Retailers had a good day of it as well with Marks and Spencer and Kingfisher both up by around 8%. Helping markets higher was a batch of better than expected data out of the US including JP Morgan’s earnings and housing starts.
What everyone is wondering is whether this is the start of a real recovery for stock markets or just another flash in the pan before the market turns lower again. There are a couple of things that give hope to the bulls this time around and hint that maybe there is at least a bit more strength to come in the short-term.
Firstly, all of the recent so-called psychological levels have held for the major indices, 1200 for the S&P 500 and 5000 for the FTSE 100.
Secondly, the strength over the last day or so has so far shown some real momentum and has managed to reach a bit further than the dead cat bounces we have been used to.
We have seen strong but ultimately short lived rallies over the past few weeks – but the current one has managed to break through the highs set over the past couple of days, with the FTSE 100 probing the 5300 levels today. This does not mean of course that we can just expect plain sailing from here and look forward to some heady gains in the weeks to come – but it does suggest that the last couple of days are starting to point to the real possibility of a more meaningful swing in sentiment after the persistent selling seen recently.
How and where to spread bet on:
Marks & Spencer and where to find free M&S charts, real-time prices etc >> Marks & Spencer JPMorgan and where to find free JPMorgan charts, live prices etc >> JPMorgan Chase
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 Spread Trading' by DJ, updated 21-Jul-08
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