15 January 2019
BooHoo and Provident Financial“It is voting day for Theresa’s May Brexit plan which means investors are likely to remain nervous until we get the result. Surprisingly the markets opened in positive fashion with a 0.7% gain in the FTSE 100 and a 0.2% advance in the FTSE 250, the latter thanks to a small gain in the pound against the US dollar and the euro. “Key to the FTSE 100’s...
14 January 2019
JD Sports, PageGroup and Revolution Bars“Natural resources companies are primarily to blame for the FTSE 100 falling 0.5% on Monday. Also contributing to the weakness are telecoms, tobacco and utility stocks. Markets across the rest of Europe are also flashing red, so too much of Asia. The standout performer was Japan’s Nikkei index which rose by nearly 1%. “Ongoing Brexit uncertainty...
11 January 2019
AO World and Flybe/Stobart“There is a positive end to the trading week with the FTSE 100 in touching distance of getting back over the 7,000 line. Oil prices find renewed strength with Brent crude up 0.7% and WTI crude up 1%, giving a lift to big FTSE constituents Royal Dutch Shell and BP. Housebuilders are also on the move with Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments among...
10 January 2019
Debenhams and Halfords“A weaker session across major markets in Europe and Asia dampens investors’ spirits including a 0.5% decline in the FTSE 100, a 0.8% drop in Germany’s DAX index, and a 1.3% slump in Japan’s Nikkei 225. “FTSE 100 miner BHP drops 6% as it trades without the right to the latest dividend and it is also caught up in general weakness across the mining...
9 January 2019
Sainsbury’s and Taylor Wimpey“At 6,905 the FTSE 100 is now trading at its highest level since the start of December as the market does its best to climb out of a hole. The blue chip index is up 2.6% year-to-date which sends hope to investors that market weakness seen in the second half of 2018 may not necessarily turn into a sustained downward trend. “Housebuilders, tobacco...
8 January 2019
Morrisons and Greene King“UK domestic stocks were back in fashion on Tuesday with supermarkets, engineers, banks, insurers and utilities all helping to give support to the FTSE 100. The blue chip index was up 0.5% to 6,847 with retailer Next topping the leaderboard. “The rise in UK stocks follows speculation that British and European officials might be discussing the...
7 January 2019
Three trends that stock market investors will want to end in 2019“The New Year has begun as the old one ended, with a lot of volatility. It will therefore be of no surprise, at least to the cynically-minded, that the three main sources of investor angst in 2018 – the US Federal Reserve, the White House and China – are already trying to offer comforting words as their credibility rests to varying degrees on stock...
7 January 2019
BT and Dunelm“It’s a relatively quiet start to the new trading week among UK stocks with very little corporate news from large companies to drive trading volumes. “Strength in miners and supermarkets is offset by weakness in banks and utilities, leaving the FTSE 100 flat at 6,839. It is a similarly placid experience with stocks in Continental Europe with only...
4 January 2019
Gear4Music“Stocks are bouncing back after yesterday’s Apple-inspired bout of weakness, but the S&P 500 in the US is still on course for its worst first week back after the New Year since 2016 when fears of a currency crisis in China led to significant volatility. And this follows on from the worst December for the index since the Great Depression. “The...
3 January 2019
Share buybacks prove useless as Apple shares get crushed after profit warningApple frightened investors back in November when boss Tim Cook announced the firm would no longer disclose unit sales figures for iPhones, iPads and iMacs and the overnight profit warning has confirmed investors’ worst fears.
At the after-hours trading close of $146 a share, Apple’s total market valuation is now just under $700 billion after the...
3 January 2019
Next and Vectura“Markets were weak across Europe and Asia following yesterday’s choppy trading and a rare profit warning from Apple spooking investors around the world. “The consumer electronics giant’s struggles are tied in closely with market fears about trade wars and the health of the Chinese economy, with a weak revenue performance in the last three months of...
2 January 2019
Debenhams and Ophir Energy“Stock markets didn’t get the memo that we’re supposed to start the New Year with a positive attitude towards being fit and healthy. “A slowdown in China’s manufacturing sector hurt stocks in Asia and also added to investor concerns about a global economic slowdown in 2019, leading to weakness across European markets. “Weak oil prices were also to...
20 December 2018
Kier“Rather than the traditional Santa rally, equities are enduring a Santa rout. A rate hike was widely expected when the US Federal Reserve met last night but the extremely negative market reaction reflects what was said alongside the decision by Fed chief Jerome Powell. Powell delivered a bit of a double whammy, flagging lots of worrying risks to...
19 December 2018
FTSE 100 earnings momentum falters as 2018 draws to a close“Positive earnings momentum helped to carry the FTSE 100 through the first half of the year, as analysts upgraded their profit forecasts and the index peaked on a closing basis at 7,877 in May, but the rate of increases slowed in the third quarter and came to a grinding halt in the fourth,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director.
“In the...
19 December 2018
GlaxoSmithKline“Investors are eagerly awaiting the FOMC meeting in the US later today to find out if there is going to be another interest rate hike. It increasingly looks like previous forecasts for one more hike this year and three in 2019 will have to be revised downwards. While we may get a hike today, concerns about global markets and tepid inflation in the...
18 December 2018
National Grid / Ofgem and Royal Dutch Shell“Further weakness in oil prices has served to weigh on shares in the oil sector and by default pull down the FTSE 100. Any movement in Royal Dutch Shell and BP have a direct influence on the direction of the blue chip index because they are among its largest constituents. “The FTSE 100 dropped 0.7% to 6,727 in early trading, also dragged down by...
17 December 2018
ASOS and SSE“A massive sell-off in retail stocks weighs on the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices with investors worried about disappointing Christmas trading. Mining stocks bucked the trend with a small advance. This included BHP which confirmed details of a $1.02 per share special dividend linked to the sale of its onshore US assets. Markets were also weak in...
14 December 2018
Balfour Beatty“There have been some troublesome figures coming out of China in 2018 and another batch has now served to drag down markets in Asia and Europe. They suggest that China is finding it hard to sustain high levels of economic growth. “China’s industrial production in November grew by 5.4%, below expectations of 5.9%, and retail sales grew at 8.1% which...
14 December 2018
Market falls leave FTSE 100 yielding almost 5% in 2019“The autumn stock market sell-off has boosted the forecast dividend yield for the FTSE 100 to 4.9% for 2019. Dividends paid out by the UK’s blue chip index are forecast to hit a new all-time high of £93.7 billion next year and as share prices have fallen this has pushed up the forecast dividend yield, providing a source of support for UK stocks...
13 December 2018
TUI“Theresa May’s victory at last night’s MP vote has given another lift to sterling, now trading at $1.267 as the market seems happier there will be consistency in the person leading the Brexit negotiations. “While there are still many unknowns regarding Brexit, not having to contend with a new Conservative leader and how they may pick up Brexit...
12 December 2018
Sainsbury’s and Superdry“News that Conservative MPs will vote later today on whether or not Theresa May should remain as their leader failed to knock markets off course. The pound nudged slightly higher to $1.2544 after May came out with fighting talk. “The UK-focused FTSE 250 index moved 0.1% higher to 17,677 and the more international-focused FTSE 100 index advanced 0.4...
11 December 2018
One year after the peak, what lessons can investors draw from Bitcoin’s collapse?“It is almost a year to the day (18 Dec’ 17) since Bitcoin peaked at $18,941, for a market value of $328 billion but the euphoria of 12 months ago has long since faded. After another failed rally, Bitcoin has almost halved again since the start of September to leave the cryptocurrency at $3,493, just above where it was in August 2017, before the...
11 December 2018
Ashtead and WPP“UK markets have started to bounce back after yesterday’s Brexit calamity. The FTSE 250, which is considered the benchmark index for UK-focused companies, has nudged up 0.2% to 17,526 although that still leaves it trading well below the 21,324 year-to-date high. “The FTSE 100 achieved a stronger lift, advancing 0.7% to 6,766 off the back of gains...
10 December 2018
Interserve and Hollywood Bowl“Monday looks like the calm before the storm for the UK stock market. A flat FTSE 100 and a small dip in the FTSE 250 suggest investors are sitting on their hands until Tuesday’s big Brexit showdown in parliament. “Among FTSE 100 stocks, gold miner Randgold Resources was the biggest riser, followed by drug maker AstraZeneca. “The biggest fallers...
6 December 2018
World Investment Outlook - Chapter one: UKThe FTSE All-Share trades within barely 10% of an all-time high that it set in Spring 2018 but investors might not guess as much, given the prevailing confusion over the Brexit talks, a fragile Government and dire warnings over the economy from the Bank of England and its Governor Mark Carney.
Sterling has acted as the main Brexit shock absorber...
6 December 2018
World Investment Outlook - Chapter two: USALike him or loathe him, markets are having to listen to President Trump and keep an eye on his Twitter account for good measure (even if his heavy use of the service has done precious little to help that particular company’s wobbly profit and loss account or share price).
It is hard to believe that the mid-term elections are already behind us and...
6 December 2018
World Investment Outlook – Chapter three: JapanThe dream lives on, at least for Prime Minister (PM) Shinzō Abe. The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be but a taster for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President, fresh from his victory in September’s party leadership contest. He has his eyes on the real political prize, which is Japan’s status as host of the 2020 Olympic Games.
If Abe can stay in...
6 December 2018
World Investment Outlook – Chapter four: AsiaIt could be argued that the Asian baby was rather thrown out with the Turkish bathwater in 2018, as a stronger dollar, weaker commodity prices and Istanbul’s foreign borrowing woes all served to weigh on emerging markets overall.
Those investors with substantial asset allocations to the Asian region will be content to ride out the storm, arguing...
6 December 2018
World Investment Outlook – Chapter five: Western EuropeSince 2012, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi has done “whatever it takes” to keep the euro and the Eurozone’s economy on the road – but 2019 will usher in the next chapter in the story. The ECB stops adding to its QE scheme in December, and Draghi steps down next October.
Meanwhile, the impact of Brexit will (presumably) be felt...
6 December 2018
World Investment Outlook – Chapter six: Emerging MarketsThe themes which dominated in 2018 – key elections, the direction of the dollar, commodity prices and trade talks with America – are all likely to be just as influential in 2019 as Emerging Markets try to recover from a testing year.
Dollar strength, America’s hard-line stance on Iran and oil’s late-year retreat all hurt the Africa/Middle East...
6 December 2018
Defensives, DS Smith and Ted Baker“Investors are back in risk-off mode with markets falling in the UK, mainland Europe and across Asia. Markets are worried by numerous things: global economic growth, rising interest rates and the US/China trade war.
“The latter is certainly centre stage in today’s sell-off after Canadian authorities arrested the finance chief of Chinese tech firm...
5 December 2018
Stagecoach and Shire“So much for the Santa rally – the market has taken a tumble after US President Donald Trump assumed the alter ego of Tariff Man and poured cold water over hopes of a US/China trade war truce. Brexit concerns have also been thrown into the mix with ongoing doubts that UK Prime Minister Theresa May will get her Brexit deal approved in parliament...
4 December 2018
Ferguson and Travis Perkins“Markets in Europe took a step back on Tuesday following a strong start to the week. The FTSE 250 index of mid-cap companies slipped 0.2% while Germany’s Dax index dropped 0.5%. The exception was the FTSE 100 which stayed flat as gains in consumer goods stocks were offset by weakness in miners,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
Ferg...3 December 2018
McColl’s Retail and Stobart“The FTSE 100 had one of its best starts to a new trading week in a long time thanks to the new found peace between the US and China. The index was up 2.1% to 7,129 in early trading on Monday. “Mining stocks surged ahead, including Antofagasta, Evraz and Anglo American all achieving share price gains of between 6% and 7%, on hopes that there will...
30 November 2018
Miners hit by Chinese manufacturing setback / all eyes on G20“Mining stocks have taken a step back following disappointing manufacturing figures from China as the trade war with the US starts to bite,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director, AJ Bell.
“The official purchasing managers’ index for China’s manufacturing sector stalled at 50 in November, down from 50.2 in October, according to data from the...
29 November 2018
Unilever, Intu Properties and Banks“The FTSE 100 followed the direction of US markets last night by pushing ahead in early trading on Thursday. A 0.5% rise to 7,041 was also driven a mixture of banking shares rising off the back of the Bank of England’s stress tests and strength in miners and tobacco stocks. “Cautious remarks by the US Federal Reserve triggered a rally in US stocks...
28 November 2018
Brexit divides the UK stock market“The UK continues to be the most disliked region by fund managers, as shown in the most recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch fund manager survey, with professional investors underweight the region. This view is echoed by retail investors, who have been consistently selling UK funds since the EU referendum – with £10.5bn withdrawn from the funds...
28 November 2018
On The Beach and Experian“Every major market across Europe and Asia was flashing green on Wednesday, meaning that stocks were moving up. Utilities, telecoms, banks and miners helped to drive up the FTSE 100 by 0.4% to 7.042. “In the UK, all eyes will be on the Bank of England’s annual stress tests of lenders’ balance sheets with the results published at 4.30pm. On a global...
27 November 2018
Thomas Cook and Greggs“Markets were in limbo on Tuesday with the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices experiencing minor declines with strength in utility stocks being offset by weakness in banks and oil producers. “Interestingly investors didn’t seem troubled by a new warning from US President Donald Trump who said he is likely to go ahead with a hike on tariffs on Chinese...
26 November 2018
Cake Box“Shares in London-listed companies which generate the majority of their earnings from the UK have been given a small lift on the latest Brexit news. However, the 0.6% rise in the FTSE 250 index is by no means large enough to suggest that investors are hungry for UK equities once more after a long downbeat period. “The fact that EU leaders have...
23 November 2018
Ibstock“Market have paused for breath in parts of the world after an adventurous few weeks. The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 barely moved on Friday morning, mirroring a similarly static performance across mainland Europe. “It was a different story in Asia where China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 2.5% as investors sounded caution ahead of next week’s G20...
22 November 2018
Why the US housing market represents a real test of Federal Reserve policy“It may – or it may not – be a coincidence that global stock markets are wobbling just as the US Federal Reserve consistently increases interest rates and withdraws Quantitative Easing. Even if there is some cause and effect here, the central bank professes not to care, given chair Jay Powell’s public assertions that it is not his job to stop...
22 November 2018
Centrica and Mothercare“Hopes have been dashed that yesterday’s rally would be the start of a new recovery. The FTSE 100 was down 0.6% to 7,010 on Thursday morning amid notable weakness in utilities, telecoms and bank stocks. It is a similar story across Europe with Germany’s DAX index down 0.4%, France’s Cac 40 index down 0.5% and Spain’s IBEX 35 index falling 0.7%....
21 November 2018
SSP, Babcock and Kingfisher“Markets across Europe pushed ahead despite carnage on Wall Street last night. Leading the charge on the FTSE 100 were the banks and mining stocks. The FTSE 100 was 0.7% ahead in early trading and was doing its best to break back through the 7,000 mark,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
SSP“The signalled departure next year of...
20 November 2018
Entertainment One and easyJet“Markets are flashing red once more, following yesterday’s disastrous day on the US markets where tech stocks were hard hit. The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% in early trading on Tuesday, dragged down by weakness in banks and miners. It now trades below 7,000 and is down 9.4% year-to-date. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2%,” says Russ Mould...
19 November 2018
Diploma“Investors appear to be regaining confidence after a volatile period last week with markets marching forward across the UK, mainland Europe and Asia on Monday morning. The FTSE 100 climbed 0.4% to 7,042 while the FTSE 250 advanced 0.3% to 18,647. “Oil prices continued to recover from recent weakness, putting a shine on natural resources stocks. UK...
16 November 2018
AstraZeneca, Hutchinson China MediTech and Kier“Brexit-induced panic seems to have faded with the markets in more upbeat mood on Friday. While both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 move up, investors will be watching like a hawk for any new indicators of whether parliament is likely to approve or reject Theresa May’s Brexit plan. “Among the large cap movers on the London market, miners and tobacco...
15 November 2018
Aston Martin Lagonda, Royal Mail and Card Factory“Dominic Raab’s resignation as Brexit Secretary didn’t go down well with currency markets, sending the pound down more than 1% against the euro and the US dollar. In contrast, the FTSE 100 was given a lift by global firms including miners which benefited from renewed strength in copper, aluminium and other metal prices. “Notable gains on the blue...
14 November 2018
British Land follows Land Securities in emphasising residential potential of its property assets“Whether it is down to hopes for a Brexit deal, a further decline in net debt or the increased dividend, shares in British Land are confounding bears of commercial real estate (and the UK economy more generally) by holding firm in early trading,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director.
“Value-seekers, who believe the shares are oversold on a...
13 November 2018
Vodafone and Taylor Wimpey“The FTSE 100 enjoyed a 0.5% rise to 7.086 in early trading on Tuesday, helped by gains in Vodafone and the banking sector,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
Vodafone“A large number of investors own Vodafone for one reason: the dividend. While it has been seen for years as an attractive income stock, it has actually been an abysmal...