Previous Close | 7,570.87 |
Open | 7,570.87 |
Volume |
Day's Range | 7,556.92 - 7,643.56 |
52 Week Range | 6,707.60 - 8,047.10 |
Avg. Volume | 864,993,193 |
US stocks hit a nine-month high on Friday, propelled by solid economic data and growing investor optimism that a deal on the US debt ceiling will land in the coming days. The S&P 500 closed 1.3 per cent higher, its highest level since mid-August, in a relatively broad rally in which investors scooped up stocks more sensitive to economic growth prospects and spurning traditionally defensive sectors such as utilities, healthcare and consumer staples. The benchmark index added 0.3 per cent in the week, notching its second straight week of gains.
Whitbread is laying the groundwork for a sale of part of its £700m pub and restaurant arm in a move that could place its Beefeater steakhouse chain on the chopping block.
The latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Friday.
Mining stocks rallied after the U.S. and China resumed economic talks in Washington but the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and other European markets slipped early Friday. Rio Tinto stock climbed 3.6% in early trading after being upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight by Morgan Stanley.
Stock futures edge lower as traders eye debt deal reports; Fed inflation gauge in focus as rate hike bets quicken; Costco lower after Q3 earnings miss on muted big ticket spending; U.S. Banks cut Fed borrowing, balance sheet shrinks and Debt ceiling deal nears as Biden, McCarthy focus on spending freeze.
European stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Friday, helped by better-than-expected British retail sales while a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling looks set to go to the wire. Data released Thursday showed that retail sales in the U.K. rose 0.5% on the month in April, more than expected, with consumers remaining surprisingly resilient in the face of a cost-of-living squeeze. Sentiment was also boosted by a Reuters report that suggested negotiators appear to be closing in on a deal that would raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling for two years, with just $70 billion separating the groups on a total figure that would be well over $1 trillion.
European stock markets retreated Thursday after data showed Germany, the region's largest economy, slipped into recession in the first quarter of the year. At 03:15 ET (07:15 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.2% lower, the FTSE 100 in the U.K. dropped 0.4% and the CAC 40 in France fell 0.3%. This meant that Europe's main growth driver suffered from a winter recession.
Global stock indices will end this year higher than where they started it but most are set to be confined to ranges in coming months even as central banks approach the endgame for interest rate rises, according to Reuters polls of market strategists. Despite the drubbing in 2022 and starting the year on the backfoot, global stocks have recovered from March lows based on expectations that most central banks were done or nearly done with in some cases more than a year of raising interest rates. The MSCI global stock index, which fell more than 8.5% between Feb. 2 and March 15 following the failure of a few U.S. regional banks, has since recouped nearly all of those losses and is up about 9% for the year.
World stocks dropped on Wednesday as U.S. debt ceiling talks dragged on without resolution, stoking a general malaise in markets that saw safe-haven assets such as the dollar hold around recent highs. But crude oil prices bucked the downtrend and kept rising, after a warning from the Saudi energy minister to speculators that raised the prospect of further OPEC+ output cuts. Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy met again on Wednesday to end an impasse in talks.
US stocks slid and short-term Treasury yields held near two-decade highs on Wednesday, as investors fretted over the looming debt-ceiling deadline while policymakers struggled to reach an agreement. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 closed 0.7 per cent lower, with all sectors in the red except energy. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6 per cent.
Record NHS waiting times has driven a surge in patients taking out private health insurance, Aviva has said.
UK insurer Aviva reported a jump in sales of its private medical cover on Wednesday, as new data also showed patients have turned to private healthcare in record numbers while the NHS struggles with waiting times. In a trading update, the FTSE 100 insurance company said its private healthcare sales rose 25 per cent to £33mn in the first quarter of the year as the NHS backlog encouraged more people to go private. “Whilst the NHS does a great job for millions of people, there are people who would like to accelerate their treatment, or give themselves that confidence that should something happen to them, they want to have that accelerated treatment,” Aviva’s chief executive Amanda Blanc told the Financial Times.
UK power group SSE announced plans to increase its multibillion-pound investment drive in clean energy projects and networks as it unveiled a near-90 per cent rise in full-year profits. SSE, one of Britain’s largest renewable energy operators, now plans to invest £18bn by 2027 and potentially as much as £40bn over the decade as profits climbed to £2.2bn, helped by higher electricity and gas prices. The FTSE 100 energy company’s investment injection is about 40-50 per cent higher than under previous plans outlined last year.
Stocks lurched downwards on Wednesday as U.S. debt ceiling negotiations dragged on without resolution, stoking a general malaise in markets that saw safe haven assets like the dollar and gold hold around recent highs. The New Zealand dollar meanwhile tumbled after the central bank caught markets off-guard by flagging that its tightening cycle is over. Europe's benchmark STOXX index fell 1.7% to a 3-week low in early trading, as a jump in UK core inflation and more losses in market-heavy luxury names hurt risk sentiment.
Janet Yellen has warned of “substantial financial market stress” as the political deadlock over raising of the US debt ceiling continues.
Global stocks were under pressure early Wednesday as concerns over the lack of progress toward a deal to raise the U.S. debt limit spread overseas. European stocks fell, following on from Wall Street’s losses Tuesday.
For some workers, the uncertainty of pay causes more stress than the job itself — especially if they’re paid depending on how they perform.
European stock markets traded sharply lower Wednesday as sticky U.K. inflation suggested more monetary tightening ahead while negotiations to raise the U.S. debt ceiling made little progress. At 03:30 ET (07:30 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 1.3% lower, the FTSE 100 in the U.K. dropped 1.4% and the CAC 40 in France fell 1.6%. Data released earlier Wednesday showed that the U.K.'s headline inflation rate fell by less than expected in April, dropping to 8.7% from 10.1% the prior month, while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, surged to 6.8%, a 31-year high.
US stocks fell on Tuesday as policymakers in Washington struggled to lock in a debt ceiling deal, with less than two weeks left until the government is due to default. Losses accelerated on Wall Street in the afternoon, as the blue-chip S&P 500 closed 1.1 per cent lower, pulled down by technology stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.3 per cent. In contrast, the KBW regional banking index advanced 0.9 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it no longer expects Britain's economy to fall into a recession this year and has upgraded its forecasts.
Private sector growth slows in UK amid 'tale of two economies'.
U.K. stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday in a cautious mood as investors digested the lack of an agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling as well as a series of economic data releases. At 04:15 ET (08:15 GMT), the benchmark FTSE 100 index traded flat, the mid-cap FTSE 250 traded 0.2% higher, while the combined FTSE 350 fell 0.1%. A meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy broke up late Monday without an agreement on how to raise the U.S. government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Air fares jumped 50% on levels seen a year earlier, to an average of €41 (£36).
A look at how the major markets are performing on Monday.
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