17 February 2021
Inflation starts 2021 without a bangInflation has started 2021 in much the same vein as it finished 2020, low and moving sideways. The fact that restaurants and hotels provided a large upward pressure on CPI, despite largely being shuttered in January, provides ample cause for caution when interpreting broad economic indicators in a world where activity has been so horribly distorted...
17 February 2021
FTSE 100 slips back with inflation in focus, British American Tobacco stubbed out on cloudy outlook“The FTSE 100 started Wednesday modestly on the back foot after UK inflation figures from which it was difficult to take anything tangible,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“With consumption artificially depressed by lockdown there’s not a lot for the data crunchers to work with, though there are some signs that the widely anticipated...
16 February 2021
Can the miners dig the FTSE 100 out of its dividend hole?A 55% hike in BHP’s first-half dividend and the restoration of payments to shareholders at Glencore are putting welcome cash back into the kitty for investors in the UK stock market. The miners’ dividends will help to fill the large hole left by BP and Shell in particular and increases from the diggers underpin consensus forecasts for an increase...
16 February 2021
Commodities boom helps FTSE extend its gains, BHP unveils record first half dividend“The FTSE 100 followed up Monday’s massive gains with a more modest advance as commodities surged amid hopes for a big recovery in demand as vaccines help unlock global economies,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Investors will be watching Boris Johnson’s scheduled statement on the easing of coronavirus restrictions closely when it...
15 February 2021
FTSE on the march as UK vaccine target hit“After finally getting some impetus on a Friday afternoon, at a time when most of us were winding down for the week, the FTSE 100 has started Monday morning without a hint of a hangover from the weekend,” AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Government attempts to manage expectations on Covid better are helpful to the market which is now...
12 February 2021
GDP figures weigh on UK domestic stocks but fail to knock the FTSE off course“The FTSE 100 was flat at 6,529, putting it on track to end the week only a fraction ahead. Bottling company Coca-Cola HBC was one of the stars of the show for the second day in a row as investors liked its optimistic outlook and dividend hike,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Some of the top performers over the past week have...
11 February 2021
All eyes on dividend payments as Big Five Banks prepare to report their resultsUnchanged or increased payments from Smurfit Kappa, CCH, AstraZeneca and RELX in the past week mean FTSE 100 firms have declared dividends worth £5.2 billion in February, more than offsetting the £2.5 billion of cuts announced by BP and Shell. That provides some welcome relief to income-seekers and sets the scene for the Big Five banks, the first...
11 February 2021
Disappointment over pace of Royal Dutch Shell’s transition to a greener world, and global markets tread water Royal Dutch Shell“ Shell saying that its oil production has peaked is a major turning point for the business. However, some people will be surprised that it isn’t being more aggressive with its move towards renewable energy,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The company says it will invest roughly twice as much in gas and...
10 February 2021
Market trends after one year of COVID are clear but Pfizer Monday changed them allIt seems remarkable now just how relaxed financial markets were during the early stages of the covid-19 outbreak in Asia and even Italy, but confidence ebbed rapidly from late February onwards once they grasped the gravity of the situation. Share prices plunged for a month and even though some found their footing, plenty of others in the worst...
10 February 2021
Market cosies up to Dunelm as dividend reinstated, and Smurfit Kappa benefits from boom in packaging demand“The FTSE 100 seemed to be stuck in a state of suspended animation on Wednesday with the index surrendering early gains to trade flat,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Its performance is being constrained by continuing gains for sterling which crimp the relative value of the overseas earnings which dominate the index.
“The pound’s...
9 February 2021
Ocado says pandemic has permanently changed grocery shopping, and TUI still hopes for summer recovery“The FTSE 100 was tripped up by a familiar foe on Tuesday as a rise in sterling to near three-month highs against the dollar saw the index open more or less flat,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“This was more a story of dollar weakness as investors eye the big stimulus package coming down the road in the US and the currency movement...
8 February 2021
Does GameStop frenzy mean it is game over for the US equity bull run?“Whether the so-called fun in GameStop is over or not remains to be seen but the share price has made a round-trip from $65 to a closing high of $347.51 (and an intra-high high north of $480) and then back to $64 all in the space of eleven trading sessions and no-one can really view this as healthy,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director.
“...
8 February 2021
The Super Bowl Rule: Will Buccaneers’ win signal in fresh surge in US stocks?Gamblers who sided with the favoured Kansas City Chiefs will have lost their money as the defending champions lost the fifty-fifth Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their quarterback Tom Brady, the most successful player in the National Football League’s history.
But stock market investors may be pleased to see Brady grab an unprecedented...
8 February 2021
FTSE gets shot in the arm amid US stimulus jobs hope and Boohoo goes shopping for more brands“The FTSE 100 started a new week with solid gains built on optimism over the vaccine-led fightback against the pandemic, strong gains in Asia and US stimulus hopes,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Japanese stocks achieved the milestone of hitting their highest level in 30 years, further demonstrating how resilient appetite for risk...
5 February 2021
FTSE steady ahead of US jobs report and Peloton profit is punctured by supply chain issues“The FTSE 100 made a steady start on Friday, putting it on course for a solid if unspectacular weekly gain which was just what the doctor ordered after a very up and then very down January,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The markets may well be keeping their powder dry ahead of the US jobs report later with hopes of a vaccine...
4 February 2021
Shell tantalises shareholders with promise of a first-quarter dividend increase in 2021Shell’s fourth-quarter and full-year results were undeniably ugly, as both offered huge losses, but the oil major’s promise of a dividend of $0.1735 a share in the first quarter of 2021 would represent an increase in the pay-out on both a quarter-on-quarter and a year-on-year basis.
Shareholders must now decide whether that promised payment...
4 February 2021
Unilever falls short of revenue forecast, and BT gets Openreach boost“On a busy day for corporate results the FTSE 100 eked out some reasonable gains, trying to regain some momentum after struggling yesterday,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“A fall in sterling, boosting the relative value of FTSE constituents’ overseas earnings, helped the index as currency traders eyed the Bank of England meeting...
3 February 2021
Markets perk up and all change at the top for Amazon“New data showing the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine to be highly effective with a 12-week gap between doses has put a spring in the step of markets. It revives a sense of optimism towards society reopening sooner rather later,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Also putting markets in a better mood were Joe Biden’s efforts to build...
2 February 2021
FTSE’s February rebound continues and BP chalks up larger than expected loss“After a decidedly downbeat end to a seemingly endless January, the FTSE 100 has more of a spring in its step in February, continuing yesterday’s rebound buoyed by gains in the US last night and Asia,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Supporting a more positive mood was an apparent calming of the Reddit-inspired frenzy on markets as...
1 February 2021
Come back Sir John Barnard, all is forgiven: social media traders start surfing silverFirst GameStop, next up silver seems to be the message on social media as the precious metal’s price hits a six-month high at just under $29 an ounce and traders look to storm a new market.
Whether it will be quite so easy to shunt around silver as it was GameStop remain to be seen, especially as Nelson Bunker Hunt and his brothers came a cropper...
1 February 2021
ASOS eyes strong returns from Arcadia deal and Ryanair heads for record loss“The FTSE 100 attempted a rebound, starting the week on a positive note after the worst five days of trading since October,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Positive data from China’s manufacturing sector helped lift stocks in Asia and the FTSE seems to have latched onto that good feeling.
“Whether this rally will be maintained or...
29 January 2021
FTSE back to where it started 2021 as volatility, vaccine and slowdown fears weigh“Those big gains chalked up by the FTSE 100 at the start of 2021 have all been given back as a slow drift lower for the index has turned into a genuine slump,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“A war of words between the EU, AstraZeneca and the UK over vaccine supplies is demonstrating that the path to unlocking economies will not be...
28 January 2021
Five questions investors need to answer before the Gamestop game comes to a stopAlthough the past few days’ frenzied activity in Gamestop is putting hedge funds, shorting and short-squeezes firmly back in the headlights, the most shorted stocks in America (and the UK) have been massively outperforming the wider benchmarks since last November. This suggests that this was a professional hit first – hedge funds forcing other...
28 January 2021
Diageo more resilient than expected and EasyJet is in survival mode“The dramatic rise in stocks like Gamestop as amateur investors rush to place orders for previously unloved companies wasn’t enough to stop US markets from slipping last night,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The S&P 500 was down nearly 2.6% after the Federal Reserve flagged a slowdown in the pace of the US economic recovery...
27 January 2021
FTSE becalmed after ‘GameStonk’ surge in the US“The FTSE 100 might be stuck in a funk but there are still plenty of signs of exuberance on the other side of the Atlantic,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Video games seller GameStop or ‘GameStonk’, to use the vernacular from Tesla founder Elon Musk’s tweet, continues to surge with Musk’s remark on Twitter prompting further gains...