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 |
| Royal Dutch Shell PLC | 2065.5 | 17.5 | 0.9 | -7.5 |
| Ashtead Group PLC | 1093 | 17.0 | 1.6 | -5.1 |
| Weir Group PLC | 1789 | 10.0 | 0.6 | -3.4 |
| BG Group PLC | 1177 | 9.0 | 0.8 | 36.1 |
| Intertek Group PLC | 2624 | 9.0 | 0.3 | 12.4 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown PLC | 1237 | 8.0 | 0.7 | 22.2 |
| Aviva PLC | 561.5 | 6.5 | 1.2 | 15.9 |
| Babcock International Group PLC | 1008 | 6.0 | 0.6 | -4.7 |
| UK 100 Laggards | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| British American Tobacco PLC | 3662 | -54.0 | -1.5 | 4.6 |
| Imperial Tobacco Group PLC | 3233 | -49.0 | -1.5 | 14.0 |
| BHP Billiton PLC | 1416 | -47.5 | -3.3 | 2.0 |
| SABMiller PLC | 3635.5 | -34.5 | -0.9 | 8.2 |
| AstraZeneca PLC | 4718.5 | -34.5 | -0.7 | 3.6 |
| Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC | 6082 | -34.0 | -0.6 | 16.7 |
| Whitbread PLC | 5390 | -30.0 | -0.6 | 13.0 |
| Next PLC | 7040 | -30.0 | -0.4 | 3.2 |
| Major World Indices | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| UK UK 100 | 7,064.3 | -25.5 | -0.36 | 7.6 |
| UK | 17,829.8 | -45.3 | -0.25 | 10.8 |
| FR CAC 40 | 5,254.1 | 13.7 | 0.26 | 23.0 |
| DE DAX 30 | 12,338.7 | -36.0 | -0.29 | 25.8 |
| US DJ Industrial Average 30 | 17,977.0 | -80.7 | -0.45 | 0.9 |
| US Nasdaq Composite 100 | 4,988.3 | -7.7 | -0.15 | 5.3 |
| US S&P 500 | 2,092.4 | -9.6 | -0.46 | 1.6 |
| JP Nikkei 225 | 19,881.0 | -24.5 | -0.12 | 13.9 |
| HK Hang Seng Index 48 | 27,716.1 | -300.3 | -1.07 | 17.4 |
| AU S&P/ASX 200 | 5,947.2 | -13.1 | -0.22 | 9.9 |
| Commodities & FX | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Crude Oil, US Light Sweet ($/barrel) | 52.41 | 0.33 | 0.62 | -3.0 |
| Crude Oil, Brent ($/barrel) | 58.44 | 0.49 | 0.85 | 0.7 |
| Gold ($/oz) | 1198.35 | -0.75 | -0.06 | 1.3 |
| Silver ($/oz) | 16.24 | -0.02 | -0.09 | 3.6 |
| Platinum ($/oz) | 1154.30 | -1.10 | -0.1 | -4.4 |
| GBP/USD – US$ per £ | 1.466 | – | -0.07 | -5.8 |
| EUR/USD – US$ per € | 1.054 | – | -0.28 | -12.6 |
| GBP/EUR – € per £ | 1.390 | – | 0.21 | 7.8 |
Click graph to enlarge
See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations
UK 100 called to open flat at 7069, skimming off support around 7050 which continues to hold after the index pulled back below its April rising channel. Updated watch levels: Bullish 7090, bearish 7050.
The flat open comes as Easter demand was seen to have produced good UK retail sales data yesterday, with investors waiting to see if demand slumps back following the holiday period. In other news, there have been reports that Greece is threatening to default on its next debt repayment unless a deal can be reached with Eurogroup creditors by the end of April. While Greek officials later denied such comments, worries clearly abound in Europe as hitherto hope infused rhetoric starts to turn. Ratings agencies have been submitting their assessments of the world’s economies, with Fitch giving the US an AAA rating with stable outlook. It also waded in to the US interest rate discussion, forecasting a 3% rise in US GDP in 2015 and predicting a rate hike for Q3.
US stocks closed off their April highs on Monday, capping two straight weeks of gains, as the budget deficit increased by $16B on the previous year and £10B on what was forecast for March 2015. The NASDAQ closed 1.2% off its all-time highs at 4988, the DJIA was down 0.4% at 17977 and the S&P fell 0.5% to 2092. US markets are awaiting first quarter earnings reports this week and next and are therefore quiet, with low trading volumes (on Monday, the lowest so far in 2015) exacerbating declines.
Asian Bourses are following Wall St’s lead in holding off in anticipation of reporting season with major indices in the region moving less than 1%. The AUD/USD pair spiked on encouraging Aussie business confidence data but settled back afterwards. The JPY weakened against the USD after comments from the Japanese government that the yen had weakened far enough – evidently not.
In focus today we UK CPI data forecast to stay flat, followed by Eurozone Industrial Production with a YoY slowdown looking likely. Lunchtime sees US Retail Sales with forecasters predicting growth in the world’s #1 economy. Later on we have US Business Inventories predicted to be lagging sales, meaning manufacturers will need to ramp up production to feed demand
Oil prices inched higher overnight but are again off highs this morning as geopolitical risk looms large in the world’s oil producing regions – namely the Middle East, with Russia entering the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia by lifting its ban on supplying the Iranian government with air defence missiles following the nuclear deal. US Light broke $52 to trade at $52.3 this morning while its Brent brother is also just off overnight highs at $58.4.
Gold ($1193) looks to be the subject of a little profit taking by short sellers this morning after falling back below the bugbear $1200 level overnight and bouncing off support around $1192. Global geopolitical worries are also supporting the price.
For any help you may require placing trades or in terms of market information, put a call in to our trading floor – it’s all part of the service.
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.
Accendo Markets considers opinions and information contained within the research to be valid when published, and gives no warranty as to the investments referred to in this material. The income from the investments referred to may go down as well as up, and investors may realise losses on investments. The past performance of a particular investment is not necessarily a guide to its future performance. Prepared by Michael van Dulken, Head of Research