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| UK 100 Leaders | Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Standard Chartered PLC | 1290.5 | 35.5 | 2.8 | -5.1 |
| Unilever PLC | 2606 | 69.0 | 2.7 | 5.0 |
| Rio Tinto PLC | 3426.5 | 83.0 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| Tullow Oil PLC | 819.5 | 19.5 | 2.4 | -4.2 |
| Antofagasta PLC | 870.5 | 19.0 | 2.2 | 5.6 |
| British American Tobacco PLC | 3390 | 61.5 | 1.9 | 4.7 |
| Randgold Resources Ltd | 4757 | 82.0 | 1.8 | 25.5 |
| Tesco PLC | 287.85 | 4.6 | 1.6 | -13.9 |
| UK 100 Laggards | Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Sports Direct International PLC | 811 | -82.5 | -9.2 | 13.4 |
| Ashtead Group PLC | 901 | -51.5 | -5.4 | 18.6 |
| St James’s Place PLC | 773 | -42.5 | -5.2 | 6.2 |
| Associated British Foods PLC | 2645 | -108.0 | -3.9 | 8.2 |
| Mondi PLC | 1007 | -40.0 | -3.8 | -3.7 |
| Resolution Ltd | 277 | -10.8 | -3.8 | -21.8 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown PLC | 1315 | -50.0 | -3.7 | -2.9 |
| BT Group PLC | 361.9 | -13.1 | -3.5 | -4.6 |
| Major World Indices | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| UK UK 100 | 6,590.69 | -32.15 | -0.49 | -2.35 |
| UK | 16,014.50 | -248.34 | -1.53 | 0.50 |
| FR CAC 40 | 4,424.83 | -11.25 | -0.25 | 3.00 |
| DE DAX 30 | 9,490.80 | -20.06 | -0.21 | -0.64 |
| US DJ Industrial Average 30 | 16,256.00 | 10.23 | 0.06 | -1.93 |
| US Nasdaq Composite 100 | 4,112.99 | 33.24 | 0.81 | -1.52 |
| US S&P 500 | 1,851.96 | 6.92 | 0.38 | 0.19 |
| JP Nikkei 225 | 14,299.69 | -307.19 | -2.10 | -12.22 |
| HK Hang Seng Index 48 | 22,775.49 | 178.52 | 0.79 | -2.28 |
| AU S&P/ASX 200 | 5,463.80 | 53.17 | 0.98 | 2.09 |
| Commodities & FX | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Crude Oil, US Light Sweet ($/barrel) | 102.245 | -0.085 | -0.08 | 3.6778 |
| Crude Oil, Brent ($/barrel) | 107.435 | 1.09 | 1.02 | -3.9948 |
| Gold ($/oz) | 1313.45 | 3.25 | 0.25 | 8.7483 |
| Silver ($/oz) | 20.0275 | -0.0025 | -0.01 | 3.1145 |
| Platinum ($/oz) | 1446.55 | 4.95 | 0.34 | 4.9123 |
| GBP/USD – US$ per £ | 1.6748 | – | -0.01 | 1.2024 |
| EUR/USD – US$ per € | 1.3793 | – | -0.01 | 0.3492 |
| GBP/EUR – € per £ | 1.2142 | – | 0 | 0.7133 |
Click graph to enlarge
See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations
The UK 100 is set to open up by 20pts at 6606pts after falling 32pts yesterday, extending the loss for this week to over 100pts.
Contributors to yesterdays’ sell-off included Associated British Foods (ABF.L) down 3.9%, after a German peer Suedzucker AG, predicted annual operating profit will slump 70%. Sports Direct (SPD.L) shed 9.2% after it was revealed owner Mike Ashley sold 24 million shares at 850p netting him £204m. Resolution (RSL.L) lost 3.8% after analysts at Bank of America downgraded the stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘underperform’ stating the company will be there hardest hit as a result of changes in regulation.
US Markets registered shallow gains ending three days of losses. NASDAQ appreciated the most, registering a 0.81% gain as technology stocks rebounded from a bout of heavy selling in previous days. Yahoo!, eBay, Google and Facebook jumped more than 2%.
Alcoa kicked off earnings season in the US with better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. Analysts had predicted earnings per share of five cents, the company reported almost double that with nine cents. Shares advanced some 2.5% after market.
Asian markets registered gains bar Japan. From India to Australia to China, traders enjoyed a buoyant session as traders snapped up depressed stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 186pts – The ‘People’s Daily’ said the government boosted its railway investment target for this year. The Bank of Japan refrained from expanding stimulus measures resulting in a stronger yen. An exporter led sell-off caused the Nikkei 225 to slump 2.1%.
In focus today: UK Total trade and goods trade balance at 9:30, US MBA Mortgage Applications @12:00, Wholesale inventories @15:00. FOMC Meeting minutes @ 19:00. UK RICS Housing Price balance @ 23:00.
Results TODAY: Evraz (EVR.L) FY Net loss of $572m vs. $425m last year. Revenue $14.4bn vs. $14.7bn last year. 6cents a share, may pay a special dividend in event of asset sales, Ukraine situation not affecting operations. Net debt increased by 2.5% to $6.53bn. WS Atkins (ATK.L) FY in line with expectations, group traded well through Q4, UK revenue to be broadly flat year on year, improved performance in the middle east, strong performance in oil, gas, nuclear in H2.
In commodities, gold continued to remain firm in a tight range yesterday trading above $1310 ahead of Fed minutes released tonight. WTI pushed to one-month highs climbing 2.1% to $102.56, on speculations that inventories at Cushing dropped for a 10th week. Despite the recent volatility WTI remains 4.2 higher this year. Continued tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to help keep commodity prices steady.
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