^FTSE - FTSE 100
| Previous close | 7,507.67 |
| Open | 7,507.67 |
| Volume | 0 |
| Day's range | 7,507.59 - 7,642.21 |
| 52-week range | 6,734.00 - 7,727.50 |
| Avg. volume | 673,749,817 |
- FX Empire
Market Trading At New Highs, Virus Fears Ease, EU Data Reassures Investors
Global markets rebound as fear of the Wuhan Virus dissipates.
- FX Empire
European Shares Higher on Dampened China Virus Worries; PMIs Not So Bad
On Thursday, ECB President Christine Lagarde told a news conference that risks to growth in the Euro Zone remained tilted to the downside.
- Bloomberg
Queen’s Banker Is Bullish on ‘Unloved’ U.K. Stocks After Brexit
(Bloomberg) -- Coutts & Co., the private banker to Queen Elizabeth II, is famed for its ornate London offices and white-glove service to wealthy clients.But it isn’t above some bargain-hunting, and these days the bank is looking for value close to home: the stocks of mid-size British companies.The reason is Brexit. With U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson passing his withdrawal agreement this week and the country poised to depart the European Union at the end of the month, uncertainty surrounding the process is beginning to clear. That has made Coutts bullish on smaller manufacturers and other U.K. firms that may benefit from rising confidence in the domestic economy.“Ever since the referendum passed in June 2016, U.K. equities have been unloved, undervalued, and under-owned,” said Monique Wong, senior portfolio manager at the 328-year-old bank. “But a big part of the Brexit story is now behind us and mid-caps have been trading at a bigger discount than large caps.”Work AheadEven so, there’s still work ahead as officials in London and Brussels hash out a new trade agreement. Johnson’s insistence on completing a deal by the end of the year may stoke market risk if months tick by with little progress. Should sterling fall as a result, that could favor the stocks of larger U.K. companies that rely on exports for growth.Still, many investors have seen enough to make them buyers of smaller British equities, Wong said. Last year, the FTSE 250 index of mostly mid-size companies returned 29%, outpacing the 17% advance of the large-cap FTSE 100. Between June 24, 2016 -- the day after the Brexit vote -- and the end of 2018, it was the export-heavy FTSE 100 that outperformed.Coutts, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, is also high on another unloved group: stocks from mainland Europe. As fears of a U.S. recession dissipate and the trade war between Washington and Beijing eases, demand may rise for European manufactured goods and lift equities, especially in Germany, Wong said.“Europe is a leveraged play on the global economic cycle,” she said.Coutts’s growth strategy portfolio, which combines stocks, bonds and alternative assets, returned 17% last year.To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Robinson in London at edrobinson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Peter EichenbaumFor 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
Finablr shares dive after it reveals stock pledge for Travelex deal
Finablr, the financial services group that owns Travelex, shed more than a quarter of its value on Friday after it emerged that more than half of its stock had been used by majority owner and billionaire BR Shetty as security against debt from buying the British currency platform in 2015. India-born Mr Shetty is one of the region’s best-known billionaires. In 1980, he set up UAE Exchange, a remittance business, which expanded in tandem with the growing expatriate population working in the oil-rich federation.
- Bloomberg
Italy to Greece Lag Behind in European Equities’ Race to Top
(Bloomberg) -- In Europe, a rising tide isn’t lifting all boats equally.The region’s main stock index may be reaching new peaks in 2020, but a majority of country benchmarks are still some way off their heights, particularly those in southern Europe that were worst hit in the euro-area debt crisis. Near the top of that list is Italy, where renewed political uncertainty roiled bank stocks on Wednesday, pushing the FTSE MIB Index even further away from a 20-year-old record.In contrast, Germany’s DAX just became the latest gauge to reach a new peak, boosted by fading trade tensions and improving macro data. That came close on the heels of the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, which smashed its previous closing high of 2015. The U.K.’s FTSE 100, freshly in demand amid receding Brexit worries and bets on global growth, is nearest to joining the club next.Growing concern about China’s coronavirus outbreak weighed on European equities on Thursday, with most country gauges in the red. That’s adding fresh risk to a market at a time when most of Europe’s lagging benchmarks are yet to recover from the aftershock of the global financial crisis. Profit growth too has barely budged despite repeated bullish calls each year.In fact, the descent of southern European gauges was so acute during the debt crisis that even a strong outperformance now only closes the gap a little: Despite last year’s world-beating 49% rally, the Greek ASE remains farthest from the peak -- about 85%, while gauges in Spain, Italy and Portugal are about 40% or more away from their highs.Rallies in the DAX and FTSE 100 gauges indicate the exporter-heavy indexes have found favor amid improving global macro conditions. The Swiss Market Index is at record levels, having benefited from its defensive composition, while France’s industrial-heavy CAC 40 Index and the Dutch AEX Index -- home to multinational companies such as Unilever and ASML Holding NV -- are about 13% off their peaks.(Updates with today’s market move in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Blaise Robinson at brobinson58@bloomberg.net, Paul JarvisFor 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.
- FX Empire
Markets Rebound, China Plans To Contain Virus, Trade Focus Turns To EU
Global markets rebound after virus-related fears subside. Risk is still present so traders should be cautious with equity markets trading at all-time highs.
- Financial Times
Markets not live, Wednesday 22nd January 2020
Speaking generally, it tends to be the case that when investors get wind of something non public that might be beneficial to the share price, such as takeover interest, they’ll want to see it publicised. In our view, Quilter would be a good candidate for Private Equity, rather than public market, ownership at the present time, given the extensive ongoing restructuring and platform transformation project.
- Financial Times
Berkeley to double shareholder payout to £1bn
London-focused housebuilder Berkeley Group plans to almost double its capital return to shareholders to £1bn over the next two years in a sign that last year’s general election has returned confidence to the sector. The FTSE 100 group did not explicitly mention Brexit or the recent Conservative victory in its update on Wednesday but hinted that greater political certainty was a factor in the increase of £455m on top of the existing dividend and share buyback programme. “Since 2016 [when the UK voted to leave the EU] like all responsible businesses, Berkeley has been mindful of the volatile operating environment and has been cautious in its investment,” the housebuilder said.
- Financial Times
BAE Systems to buy Collins’ GPS business for $1.9bn
UK defence group BAE Systems is paying $1.93bn in cash for the military global positioning business of US engineer Collins Aerospace, in its biggest acquisition in more than a decade. The GPS business makes military receiver systems and its products are used on hundreds of US defence platforms, including the two highest-volume weapons programmes for the US Air-Force, BAE said on Monday. last year of Raytheon and United Technologies, with regulators requiring the two groups to divest assets.
- Financial Times
European stocks edge lower while oil climbs
European stocks slid after a senior UK government minister warned Britain would no longer be in the single market or the customs union, while Asian markets were mixed in overnight trade. US markets are closed for the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, but investors will brace for a busy week of earnings, including Netflix and IBM on Tuesday, and a series of rate-setting meetings from policymakers including the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank. “We will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union,” said Mr Javid.
- FX Empire
The Week Ahead: Monetary Policy in Focus, with the PBoC, BoJ, BoC, and the ECB in Action
It’s a big week on the monetary policy front, with stats also to influence…
- FX Empire
European Shares Higher; Energy Costs Boost Euro Zone Inflation
Eurostat also confirmed its earlier estimate that month-on-month prices in the 19 countries sharing the Euro rose 0.3%.
- FX Empire
Phase One In The Bag, Retail Sales Rise, Traders Remain Cautious
Global markets are mixed following the signing of the Phase One Trade deal.
- Financial Times
US stocks close at record highs boosted by tech, earnings
Wall Street struck a trio of fresh records and the S&P 500 closed above 3,300 for the first time, boosted by tech and financial stocks and as investors remained upbeat in the wake of the US-China trade truce. Having already set numerous records this week, the S&P 500 closed 0.8 per cent higher at 3,316.81, led by a 1.4 per cent increase in tech stocks and a 1 per cent rise in industrials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9 per cent to 29,297.64, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1 per cent to 9,357.13.
- Financial Times
Whitbread hobbled by UK uncertainty and looks to German expansion
Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn hotels, has warned that it will continue to be hit by a lack of business confidence outside London despite government pledges to boost regional spending. Alison Brittain, ...
- FX Empire
2020 Kicks off with US-Iran and Climate Change Crisis
Extreme weather conditions, raging bushfires and tensions with Iran have been the dominant themes making headlines. While geopolitical risks bring periodic bouts of volatility, heightened discussions on climate change may reshape the investment landscape quicker than anticipated. The climate risk is calling for sustainable investment. Eyes are now on the trade deal!
- FX Empire
Global Markets Move Higher, Geopolitical Risk Is Rising, Earnings Season Begins
Global markets hover near recent highs while traders focus on geopolitical events and earnings.
- Financial Times
Women still missing from top ranks of business, politics and law
Men still dominate the most senior roles in public life and the UK is “generations away” from achieving gender equality, according to a report published on Monday. The 2020 Sex and Power Index compiled by the Fawcett Society, a charity campaigning for gender equality, showed that women are missing from the top ranks of business, politics and law. “Despite much lip service about the importance of having women in top jobs, today’s data shows we are still generations away from achieving anything close to equality,” said Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society.
- Bloomberg
M&S Plunge Provides Reality Check After Stock’s False Dawn
(Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here.Thursday’s tumble in Marks & Spencer Group Plc shares served as a reminder that the U.K. retailer needs to show more improvement in its turnaround to justify a flurry of analyst upgrades in recent months.The stock fell as much as 12%, the most since February 2019, and was the worst performer in the FTSE 350 General Retailers Index after holiday sales at its long-struggling clothing & home unit came in weaker than consensus estimates and the company pointed to gross margins around the lower end of its guidance.The slump comes hot on the heels of the stock’s best quarterly performance in five years. M&S shares jumped 16% in the last three months of 2019 after at least five analysts raised their recommendations following first-half earnings that showed improved clothing sales in October. The prospect of a brighter outlook for U.K. consumers after the Conservative Party’s election win in December also helped boost sentiment.Yet the stock still ended 2019 with a decline of 9.7%, a fifth straight annual drop that has reduced the company’s market value by more than half and seen M&S demoted from the FTSE 100 Index for the first time.“Today’s update is a reminder that bottom-up challenges may water down the benefit from an increasingly positive macro picture,” said James Grzinic, a Jefferies analyst with a hold rating on the shares.To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Pham in London at lpham14@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Paul JarvisFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- FX Empire
European Shares Trim Losses as Investors Await Speech from President Trump
President Trump will speak to the nation about 14:00 GMT. He is expected to address the attack on the Iraqi air force base that housed U.S. military personnel.
