This report is not a personal recommendation and does not take into account your personal circumstances or appetite for risk.
| UK 100 Leaders | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| Betfair Group PLC | 2105 | 319.0 | 17.9 | 17.2 |
| Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC | 3407 | 327.0 | 10.6 | 18.5 |
| Friends Life Group Ltd | 434.9 | 28.7 | 7.1 | 18.8 |
| Aviva PLC | 569.5 | 37.5 | 7.1 | 17.5 |
| Pace PLC | 382.5 | 22.9 | 6.4 | 10.2 |
| Essentra PLC | 1039 | 53.0 | 5.4 | 41.9 |
| Serco Group PLC | 217.8 | 11.0 | 5.3 | 35.5 |
| Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC | 272 | 13.0 | 5.0 | 16.3 |
| UK 100 Laggards | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| AstraZeneca PLC | 4486.5 | 63.0 | 1.4 | -1.5 |
| Saga PLC | 178 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 14.8 |
| Cineworld Group PLC | 459 | 6.5 | 1.4 | 10.6 |
| Capital & Counties Properties PLC | 415 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 13.8 |
| Ocado Group PLC | 357.4 | 5.1 | 1.5 | -10.7 |
| Associated British Foods PLC | 3133 | 45.0 | 1.5 | -0.6 |
| Wood Group (John) PLC | 660.5 | 9.5 | 1.5 | 10.7 |
| IG Group Holdings PLC | 745 | 11.0 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| Major World Indices | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| UK UK 100 | 6,961.1 | 41.9 | 0.61 | 6.0 |
| UK | 17,310.3 | 174.7 | 1.02 | 7.6 |
| FR CAC 40 | 4,963.5 | 46.2 | 0.94 | 16.2 |
| DE DAX 30 | 11,504.0 | 113.6 | 1.00 | 17.3 |
| US DJ Industrial Average 30 | 18,135.7 | 38.8 | 0.21 | 1.8 |
| US Nasdaq Composite 100 | 4,982.8 | 15.7 | 0.32 | 5.2 |
| US S&P 500 | 2,101.0 | 2.5 | 0.12 | 2.0 |
| JP Nikkei 225 | 18,971.0 | 219.2 | 1.17 | 8.7 |
| HK Hang Seng Index 48 | 24,160.1 | -33.0 | -0.14 | 2.4 |
| AU S&P/ASX 200 | 5,898.9 | -5.3 | -0.09 | 9.0 |
| Commodities & FX | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Crude Oil, US Light Sweet ($/barrel) | 50.84 | -0.13 | -0.25 | -5.1 |
| Crude Oil, Brent ($/barrel) | 60.75 | -0.11 | -0.18 | 5.7 |
| Gold ($/oz) | 1197.75 | -1.85 | -0.15 | 1.4 |
| Silver ($/oz) | 16.14 | -0.07 | -0.43 | 3.3 |
| Platinum ($/oz) | 1182.65 | 0.75 | 0.06 | -2.2 |
| GBP/USD – US$ per £ | 1.524 | – | -0.03 | -2.1 |
| EUR/USD – US$ per € | 1.102 | – | -0.1 | -8.8 |
| GBP/EUR – € per £ | 1.383 | – | 0.07 | 7.3 |
Click graph to enlarge
See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations
The UK 100 Index is called to open flat this morning at 6,955pts having almost notched another record high yesterday.
The flagship UK index added 42pts as global indices cheered European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi's, commitment to commence asset purchases and maintain low interest rates.
The German DAX 30 continued its record breaking run by surpassing 11,500pts for the first time ever as Draghi boasted a recovering Eurozone economy.
Closer to home, driving the UK 100 higher were Aviva (AV.L) and Friends Life Group (FLG.L), both stocks up over 7% on the day after Aviva announced forecast-beating earnings ahead of its £5.6bn agreed merger with Friends Life due to complete next month. Aviva also boosted its final dividend payment by 30%.
Shares in Schroders (SDR.L) climbed to record levels as it too delivered a trading statement that surpassed the City's expectations. The company also increased its final dividend by 34%.
Only 19 UK 100 companies finished the day in negative territory. At the foot of the table sat Rio Tinto (RIO.L) and HSBC (HSBA.L) having gone ex-dividend. Shares down around 2.5%.
The Dow Jones closed higher by a modest 38pts whilst the S&P500 added 2.5pts and the NASDAQ sat comfortably near to 5,000pts at 4,982pts. Financial stocks received a welcome boost as all 31 US banks passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests for the first time since 2009.
US shares are likely to trade sideways ahead of the influential US unemployment and non-farm payroll data due at 13:30 GMT today.
Commodity prices experienced a somewhat subdued session, gold hovered around the $1200 mark whilst US Light crude and Brent traded steady at $50 and $60 respectively.
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See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations
This research is produced by Accendo Markets Limited. Research produced and disseminated by Accendo Markets is classified as non-independent research, and is therefore a marketing communication. This investment research has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote its independence and it is not subject to the prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research. This research does not constitute a personal recommendation or offer to enter into a transaction or an investment, and is produced and distributed for information purposes only.
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