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| Friday’s UK 100 Leaders | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| Smurfit Kappa Group | 2224 | 38.0 | 1.7 | 18.1 |
| Persimmon | 2501 | 39.0 | 1.6 | 40.8 |
| DCC | 6885 | 70.0 | 1.0 | 14.0 |
| Barratt Developments | 595.5 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 28.8 |
| Reckitt Benckiser Group | 7352 | 41.0 | 0.6 | 6.8 |
| Friday’s UK 100 Laggards | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| Standard Life | 410.8 | -16.0 | -3.8 | 10.4 |
| Rio Tinto | 3370 | -109.5 | -3.2 | 6.7 |
| Old Mutual | 195.3 | -6.2 | -3.1 | -5.8 |
| Anglo American | 1238.5 | -39.0 | -3.1 | 6.8 |
| BHP Billiton | 1336 | -39.5 | -2.9 | 2.3 |
| Major World Indices | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| UK UK 100 | 7,310.0 | -80.0 | -1.08 | 2.3 |
| UK | 19,544.8 | -154.6 | -0.78 | 8.1 |
| FR CAC 40 | 5,060.9 | -54.3 | -1.06 | 4.1 |
| DE DAX 30 | 12,014.0 | -0.2 | 0.00 | 4.6 |
| US DJ Industrial Average 30 | 21,858.3 | 14.3 | 0.07 | 10.6 |
| US Nasdaq Composite | 6,256.6 | 39.7 | 0.64 | 16.2 |
| US S&P 500 | 2,441.3 | 3.1 | 0.13 | 9.0 |
| JP Nikkei 225 | 19,537.1 | -192.6 | -0.98 | 2.2 |
| HK Hang Seng Index 50 | 27,194.2 | 310.7 | 1.16 | 23.6 |
| AU S&P/ASX 200 | 5,730.4 | 37.3 | 0.65 | 1.1 |
| Commodities & FX | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Crude Oil, West Texas Int. ($/barrel) | 4876.50 | 33.50 | 0.69 | -9.5 |
| Crude Oil, Brent ($/barrel) | 5201.55 | 24.45 | 0.47 | -8.5 |
| Gold ($/oz) | 129295.00 | -205.00 | -0.16 | 12.2 |
| Silver ($/oz) | 1714.25 | 3.25 | 0.19 | 7.4 |
| GBP/USD – US$ per £ | 1.3007 | – | -0.02 | 5.3 |
| EUR/USD – US$ per € | 1.1817 | – | -0.08 | 12.4 |
| GBP/EUR – € per £ | 1.1007 | – | 0.06 | -6.2 |
Click graph to enlarge
UK 100 Index called to open +15pts at 7325, for the moment halting last week’s sell-off at June lows of 7295. After briefly trading a fresh 3-month low on Friday, the index has steadily climbed in Asian trading, although dipped from highs of 7331. Bulls will be hoping for a return to and break above Friday’s highs of 7340, while Bears will be eyeing support at 7310 to give way to open the door to fresh 3-month lows. Watch levels: Bullish 7340, Bearish 7310.
Calls for a positive open come as tensions between the US and North Korea came off the boil over the weekend. Both sides held back from ramping up hawkish rhetoric to further antagonise the situation, while comments from Chinese Premier Xi urging calm on both sides also look to ease the highly charged political climate.
Aiding sentiment is preliminary Japanese Q2 GDP figures coming in significantly stronger than expected (4.0% YoY vs 2.5% exp.) driven by an increase in domestic consumption. Economic growth in Japan has now seen its longest streak of unbroken expansionary readings in over 10 years, while the quarterly growth figure (1.0% vs 0.6% exp.) is the best reading since Q1 2015.
US equities closed marginally higher on Friday however this failed to stop major indices posting their second worst week of the year. The Nasdaq outperformed as Tech names led risers, a factor which also aided the S&P 500. Due to a lack of major companies from the sector, the Dow Jones closed just above breakeven.
Gold has fallen overnight as US-North Korean tensions ease, while the US dollar recovering from one week lows also weighs. Safe haven demand has faltered as we begin the new trading week, which has seen the precious metal fall from Friday’s 2-month high of $1292, however the bullish flag towards $1320 remains valid.
Crude Oil prices have traded sideways overnight, with global benchmark Brent holding around $52 while its US equivalent remains below $49 as the US dollar comes off its post-inflation figure lows. Investors will this week look for further clarity of global production levels after last week’s IEA induced sell-off.
In focus today we have only Eurozone Industrial Production and comments from German Finance minister Schaeuble. While there is no consensus for the former, there is potential for a cooling after last month’s jump to the strongest monthly growth since October, and its fastest annual pace since August 2011. The latter has potential to influence the Euro and German DAX.
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UK Company Headlines: (Source: Reuters/DJ Newswires)
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