^FTSE - FTSE 100
| Previous close | 6,067.76 |
| Open | 6,067.76 |
| Volume | 0 |
| Day's range | 6,067.76 - 6,167.96 |
| 52-week range | 4,898.80 - 7,727.50 |
| Avg. volume | 1,347,054,878 |
- FX Empire
European Shares Higher as New Stimulus Package Optimism Outweighs US-China Tensions
Euro Zone stocks were supported as the European Commission (EC) prepares to unveil a plan to help the EU economy recover.
- Financial Times
Global stocks shake off concern over US-China tensions
US stocks staged a late rally on Wednesday as hopes of a faster economic recovery overcame concerns over the relationship between the US and China. Wall Street’s S&P 500 finished the day 1.5 per cent higher, closing above 3,000 for the first time in 12 weeks. Other global equity benchmarks also rose, with London’s FTSE 100 gaining 1.3 per cent and the benchmark Euro Stoxx 600 closing 0.2 per cent higher.
- Financial Times
British Land suffers £1bn hit from retail tumult
Upheaval in the retail sector, accelerated by coronavirus, has wiped more than £1bn off the value of British Land’s portfolio. The FTSE 100 property company owns about £11bn worth of property, including key sites in Broadgate, east London, and Paddington in west London. Just over a third of that — £3.9bn — is made up of retail parks, stores and shopping centres, which have shed more than a quarter of their value over the year.
- Financial Times
A glass half-full view built on stimulus efforts succeeding
Yes, a weakening renminbi is worrying, particularly when the US dollar is broadly lower, but fiscal and monetary stimulus is a nice comfort blanket. Japan is rolling out a ¥117tn ($1.1tn) package of easing, equal to 6 per cent of gross domestic product a month, after announcing the previous round of stimulus. The European Commission fired up appetite for regional shares and sovereign bonds with plans to seek approval to borrow as much as €750bn in debt in order to fund the eurozone’s recovery from Covid-19.
- Bloomberg
U.K. Stocks Rally as Lockdown Easing Provides Retail Relief
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose after Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined plans for the re-opening of outdoor markets, car showrooms and shops in England next month, providing relief for retailers that have been forced to shut down in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus.The benchmark FTSE 100 Index rose as much as 2.3% on Tuesday -- outpacing other major European gauges -- with airlines and travel stocks among the biggest gainers on optimism about travel restrictions easing in some European countries, and retailers rising after the government’s announcement. U.K. stock markets were closed for a public holiday Monday, while Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 rose 1.5% that day amid a bailout for Deutsche Lufthansa AG.Consumer stocks rose after Johnson said Monday evening that England’s outdoor markets and car showrooms will be able to reopen from June 1, as soon as they are able to meet the coronavirus guidelines to protect shoppers and workers, while all other non-essential retail outlets will be expected to be able to reopen from June 15 if the government can control the spread of the virus. U.K. car dealership stocks including Pendragon Plc and Vertu Motors Plc jumped.“Lockdown has caused considerable damage to the U.K. consumer economy,” Shore Capital analysts including Clive Black wrote in a note Tuesday, calling the re-opening plans a relief for non-discretionary retailers. “We expect calendar year 2021 to be one of stabilization at this stage.” British midcap stocks also rallied, with the FTSE 250 Index gaining as much as 2.9% to the highest since April 30.Next Plc shares rose as much as 6.6% on Tuesday, while Primark owner Associated British Foods Plc gained as much as 6.2%. Both stocks are down 31% so far this year. Pub operator JD Wetherspoon Plc -- which last week outlined plans to reopen its 875 pubs with special precautions when it has the official go-ahead -- surged as much as 10%, while Marston’s extended its rally following Friday’s announcement on a brewing joint venture with Carlsberg A/S. PayPoint Plc, which provides in-store bill payment services for customers, rose as much as 9.5%. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Financial Times
Global stocks push higher on easing virus nerves
Hopes of a quick economic recovery gave a lift to global stocks on Tuesday, taking them to their highest levels since the coronavirus pandemic first took hold in early March. In the US the S&P 500 moved above the 3,000 point level for the first time in nearly three months, though the index pared gains late in the session on renewed concerns about new US tariffs against China. Investors were switching into riskier assets, with travel and leisure stocks leading the gains in response to moves by Germany and Spain to lift their travel restrictions.
- Financial Times
Hong Kong stocks tumble as Beijing says it will impose security law
Hong Kong stocks tumbled on Friday after the Chinese government said it planned to impose national security legislation on the city, in the latest sign of how simmering geopolitical tensions have become a significant concern for investors. The city’s Hang Seng index fell 5.6 per cent due to rising fears that the show of legal force could reignite mass pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub and worsen tensions between Washington and Beijing. China’s CSI 300 of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks fell by 2.3 per cent.
- Financial Times
Stocks stumble as investors contend with tension over Hong Kong
Global stocks and crude oil slowed advances made this week as fears over renewed tensions between Washington and Beijing outweighed hopes of more stimulus packages to support the world’s largest economies. Investors sought out havens such as gold and US Treasuries after China moved to assert its authority over Hong Kong with plans to impose a national security law on the territory. The Communist party’s decision earned a sharp rebuke from Washington, where Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, called the plans a “death knell” for autonomy in the financial hub.
- Financial Times
Markets Now - Thursday 21st May 2020
It’s a bit early to be thinking about the next FTSE index review (scheduled for June 3 and framed on the previous day’s prices) but as it’s something other than results let’s do so anyway. It has control of its whole value chain, in contrast to asset-lite hotel companies that, in some cases, have a more complex job of trying to help multiple hotel owners to optimise their positions.
- Financial Times
Stocks rise on investor confidence in state and central bank aid
Global stock markets pushed higher on Wednesday as investors took heart from the prospect of central banks offering further measures to stimulate economic growth and protect incomes. The optimism was underpinned by continued demand for sovereign debt issued by some of the world’s biggest economies, enabling governments to fund their record spending commitments. Minutes from the US Federal Reserve indicated the central bank was ready to support the economy over the medium term if there were additional outbreaks of the virus.
- Financial Times
Compass seeks £2bn in biggest fundraising since pandemic began
Compass will test investor appetite with the largest equity fundraising in the UK since the coronavirus crisis erupted, as the FTSE 100 catering group laid out a plan to raise £2bn to help survive the lockdown. The pandemic has had a “profound impact on Compass”, according to its chief executive Dominic Blakemore. Compass will seek to raise about £2bn in an offer to both institutional and retail investors, twice as much as the previous largest equity fundraising by Informa, the events and media group.
- Financial Times
Markets rally stalls as investors assess pace of economic recovery
A broad rally in global markets stalled on Tuesday, as investors assessed hopes for a rebound in economic activity in the coming months. Stocks on Wall Street nudged lower at the open, with the S&P 500 falling 0.2 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq unchanged. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 per cent in afternoon trading while Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax was 0.2 per cent lower.
- Financial Times
Wall Street closes higher on vaccine and reopening hopes
Global stocks surged on Monday as investors took heart that the gradual easing of lockdowns in Europe would stimulate global economic growth, while also drawing encouragement from a US trial for a Covid-19 vaccine. Trader optimism was underpinned by comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell over the weekend that the central bank had more in reserve to support the US economy if required. Hopes of rising economic demand also pushed the price of US crude oil to its highest level in two months, reflected in a Monday morning tweet from US president Donald Trump: “Oil (energy) is back!!!!”.
- Financial Times
Why banks should raise equity to get through this stress
Just over 11 years ago, HSBC asked its shareholders to back an unprecedented £12.5bn rights issue. The March 2009 capital raising — at the time, the biggest ever by a British company — was among the first of many by shell-shocked banks over the following few years. All were crucial to save the global banking system from collapse after the 2008 financial crisis.
- Financial Times
Antofagasta in investors’ crosshairs over gender diversity
Antofagasta and the company behind Park Plaza hotels are among five businesses facing a potential backlash at their upcoming annual meetings following a warning from the UK’s Investment Association over a lack of women in senior roles. The IA’s influential voting advisory service Ivis has issued so-called red-top alerts to investors over gender diversity levels at the companies, which also include mining company Hochschild, energy business ContourGlobal and Polypipe Group, a piping manufacturer. This month, Ivis issued red-top alerts for five other businesses, including Just Eat and Petrofac, ahead of their annual meetings.
- Financial Times
One-fifth of FTSE 100 companies tap government wage scheme
One in five of the UK’s largest listed businesses are relying on government funds to pay staff wages, but so far only five per cent have made permanent job cuts despite a national lockdown bringing economic activity to a standstill. Industrial and consumer discretionary companies — categorised by the London Stock Exchange as those selling non-essential goods and services such as flights and clothes — have tapped the job retention scheme the most, according to an FT analysis of all the FTSE 100 constituents. Nearly half, 47, of industrial and consumer discretionary companies in the FTSE 100 said they had furloughed employees, while 16 consumer discretionary businesses and 12 industrial groups said they had made permanent job cuts.
- Financial Times
AstraZeneca’s rise to the FTSE top spot feels like a sell signal
AstraZeneca has shot past Royal Dutch Shell to become the UK’s biggest company by market capitalisation — a changing of the guard from oil to drugs that feels like a sign of the times. The drugmaker’s climb to the top of the pile this year has cemented its status as a success story of the UK market. A gain of 15 per cent so far this year values the Anglo-Swedish company’s equity at around £115bn.
- Financial Times
Stocks end week lower as Wall Street weighs Sino-US tension
Wall Street ended the week lower, even after stocks rebounded in a volatile trading session punctuated by mixed economic data from across the world and escalating disputes between the US and China. The S&P 500 closed up 0.4 per cent on Friday but declined 2.3 per cent for the week as a whole. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has slid 1.2 per cent over the past five trading days.
- Financial Times
Investors Chronicle: Land Securities, Brewin Dolphin, Vodafone
Landsec is braced for further blows to its rental income in the wake of the government-enforced lockdown and social distancing, warning that third-quarter collections in June could be worse than the shortfall suffered in the prior quarter. After receiving only 63 per cent of rent due at the end of March, the commercial landlord is not hopeful about recouping those arrears, taking a £23m provision that is equivalent to almost three-quarters of the outstanding amount. There is likely to be further pressure on estimated rental values in the retail sector, said chief financial officer Martin Greenslade.
- Financial Times
A healthcare solution for the decade
Hopefully the trend steadily escalates and nurtures a broader economic recovery. In this respect, the equity market narrative of a rebound from its lows in March does not seem excessive. This places broad market sentiment in a potentially nasty place, where towards the end of the year, rather than observing an accelerating pace of recovery, the reality is rather more challenging.
- Financial Times
S&P 500 higher after banks’ shares surge
Wall Street staged a comeback on Thursday as a surge in shares of hard-hit US banks offset a slide in the value of large industrial groups after new data on US unemployment claims. The S&P 500 closed 1.2 per cent higher, after dropping roughly the same amount earlier in the day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 per cent. Shares in Wells Fargo and Capital One, two companies in the financial sector that had suffered heavy losses this year, rose more than 6 per cent. Other banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, also rose more than 3 per cent.
