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| UK 100 Leaders | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| Antofagasta PLC | 472.1 | 11.4 | 2.5 | -37.3 |
| Worldpay Group PLC | 307.7 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| International Consolidated Airlines Group SA | 614 | 4.5 | 0.7 | 26.3 |
| Next PLC | 7275 | 40.0 | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| Shire PLC | 4705 | 22.0 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| UK 100 Laggards | Close (p) | Chg (p) | % Chg | % YTD |
| Glencore PLC | 89.8 | -3.3 | -3.5 | -70.0 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC | 2292 | -66.0 | -2.8 | 15.8 |
| Standard Chartered PLC | 566.1 | -14.7 | -2.5 | -38.2 |
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group (The) PLC | 302.8 | -7.3 | -2.4 | -23.2 |
| BHP Billiton PLC | 760.6 | -15.2 | -2.0 | -45.2 |
| Major World Indices | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| UK UK 100 | 6,274.1 | -40.5 | -0.64 | -4.5 |
| UK | 17,519.7 | -49.7 | -0.28 | 8.9 |
| FR CAC 40 | 4,677.1 | -24.2 | -0.52 | 9.5 |
| DE DAX 30 | 10,743.0 | -117.1 | -1.08 | 9.6 |
| US DJ Industrial Average 30 | 17,603.8 | -117.3 | -0.66 | -1.2 |
| US Nasdaq Composite | 5,065.9 | -42.1 | -0.82 | 7.0 |
| US S&P 500 | 2,063.4 | -15.0 | -0.72 | 0.2 |
| JP Nikkei 225 | 19,033.7 | 51.5 | 0.27 | 9.1 |
| HK Hang Seng Index 48 | 21,914.4 | 32.3 | 0.15 | -7.2 |
| AU S&P/ASX 200 | 5,295.9 | -24.0 | -0.45 | -2.1 |
| Commodities & FX | Mid/Close | Chg | % Chg | % YTD |
| Crude Oil, West Texas ($/barrel) | 34.83 | 0.07 | -0.26 | -31.8 |
| Crude Oil, Brent ($/barrel) | 36.61 | -0.01 | -0.03 | -36.4 |
| Gold ($/oz) | 1061.65 | 0.55 | 0.05 | -10.3 |
| Silver ($/oz) | 13.90 | 0.04 | 0.27 | -11.4 |
| GBP/USD – US$ per £ | 1.482 | – | 0.04 | -4.8 |
| EUR/USD – US$ per € | 1.093 | – | -0.04 | -9.7 |
| GBP/EUR – € per £ | 1.356 | – | 0.07 | 5.3 |
Click graph to enlarge
UK 100 Index called to open -15pts at 6260 with the index settling back towards support at the 50- and 100-day MAs and trading at the floor of a 4-day rising channel on the 30-min chart. Watch levels: Bullish 6350, Bearish 6200.
Another negative opening call (the last one.....of 2015) comes amid another mixed Asian session, the last of the year (Asian markets closed on). A continued slide in the oil price and a US Dollar that’s not going down without a fight are dominating sentiment as people begin to attempt their 2016 forecasts, seeing headwinds for long term earnings.
“But not all companies are oil producers or miners, right? There are far more consumers of commodities than there are producers, so this is good, no?!” To clarify, it’s falling prices that are an economic concern - not fallen prices. This is a macro-economic issue that drives expectations of further easing of monetary policy in commodity-led economies (even as the US Fed starts tightening), which in turn has consequences for global stock markets from a currency perspective.
US markets closed near session lows yesterday leaving the Nasdaq (tech heavy) the only major US index likely to close nicely positive for the year (would you be happy with 0.2% on the S&P? you could’ve got that from your bank!). Very low volumes expected on the last trading day of the year.
In focus today is the fact that it’s New Year’s Eve, so rather than data fallout we’re likely to hear much about what’s to come in 2016. US employment data is seen a tad worse at lunchtime though.
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There are no UK company headlines of note this morning.
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