^FTSE - FTSE 100
| Previous Close | 5,480.22 |
| Open | 5,480.22 |
| Volume | 0 |
| Day's Range | 5,396.66 - 5,486.29 |
| 52 Week Range | 4,898.80 - 7,727.50 |
| Avg. Volume | 1,086,917,558 |
- FX Empire
The Week Ahead – COVID-19 and OPEC in Focus, with Economic Data on the Lighter Side
While it is a shortened week, with economic data on the lighter side, there is still plenty for the markets to focus on and OPEC and COVID-19 in particular.
- MarketWatch
FTSE 100 heads for 1% weekly loss as BP, insurers decline
London stocks were set to lose 1% for the week on Friday, with downbeat economic data, climbing coronavirus cases and losses for big oil companies weighing on the FTSE 100.
- MarketWatch
European stocks drop after grim PMI data as coronavirus cases hit 1 million world-wide
European stocks fell on Friday on data reflecting the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The IHS Markit eurozone services purchasing managers index in March slumped to a reading of 26.4 from 52.6 in February, the worst-ever reading in the history of the series. In Italy, the services PMI fell to 17.4 in March, plunging from 52.1 in February, while Spain’s also recorded a record fall.
- Barrons.com
Dow Futures Fall, Oil Rises, as Investors Await Jobs Numbers
STOCKSTOWATCHTODAY BLOG All eyes will be on the U.S. jobs number reported at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Economists foresee a drop in the number of people employed, although the data isn’t expected to capture the full impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.
- TheStreet.com
Dow Futures Slide After March Payroll Report Shows 700,000 Job Losses; Oil Extends Rally As Trump Pushes for OPEC Production Cuts
With coronavirus infections topping 1 million, and nearing the 250,000 mark in the United States, investors are counting the economic cost of the global pandemic heading into the Friday trading session.
- Financial Times
Stocks end week on sour note as data reveal virus toll
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.5 per cent on Friday after the US recorded its largest pace of job losses since the financial crisis and reports out of Europe showed a sharp contraction in the service sector. The latest decline for the US blue-chip index, which suffered a loss of more than 2 per cent for the week as a whole, was mirrored by other closely followed indices including the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- Barrons.com
Dow Futures Are Up as Gains for Oil Lift Energy Stocks
Stocks are bouncing back after a brutal start to the second quarter. Benchmark oil prices are up almost 10%, in part on hopes for an end to the Saudi-Russian market-share war.
- TheStreet.com
Dow Futures Gain As Weekly Jobless Claims Surge to 6.6 Million; Oil Rebounds
More than 6.6 million Americans likely filed for jobless benefits last week, more than double Street forecasts. Oil prices surge overnight.
- Financial Times
Global stocks end higher on hopes of oil price war truce
Global stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday, buoyed by hopes the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia could soon ease, but investors remained concerned about the economic shock caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The US S&P 500 was up 2.3 per cent after having swung between positive and negative territory through the day, while European and most Asian bourses also recorded gains. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3 per cent.
- Financial Times
Trade volumes spike at exchanges across Europe
Huge amounts of share trading normally done through banks or anonymous marketplaces shifted back on to exchanges in March, as traders opted not to wait for end-of-day auctions to dump positions. Monthly data showed that activity on exchanges and other public venues surged amid the ferociously volatile month, in which the US benchmark S&P 500 made its quickest ever descent into a bear market, while the FTSE 100 recorded its worst quarter since 1987. Average daily trading volumes across exchanges in Europe soared to €69bn in March, a 60 per cent year-on-year increase, according to data from Cboe Europe.
- Barrons.com
Dow Falls 974 Points, the Worst First Day of a Quarter Ever
All three major U.S. stock indexes opened the second quarter with steep losses, each tumbling more than 4% amid more dismal news on the coronavirus outbreak.
- FX Empire
The Coronavirus Continues To Impact The Financial Markets. Crude Oil And Equity Markets
Market volatility will continue until the spread of the virus abates. The numbers suggest that we are some way off…
- MarketWatch
Banks lead FTSE 100 fall after bowing to pressure to cancel dividends
London’s heavily weighted banking sector dragged the market down on Wednesday, as several canceled dividends and suspended buybacks at the request of the Bank of England while the country tries to come to grips with its coronavirus outbreak.
- Barrons.com
The Dow Is Dropping to Start the Quarter. Mallinckrodt Jumps on Trial for Covid-19 Therapy
All three major U.S. stock indexes were lower following White House predictions that American Covid-19 deaths could reach 240,000.
- Financial Times
Auto Trader to raise £200m in share sale after waiving ad fees
Internet car group Auto Trader will issue about £200m of fresh shares to bolster its finances after letting dealerships use its online marketplace for free during the coronavirus lockdown. As the car industry grinds to a halt, with forecourts closed and factories at a standstill, the FTSE 100 group has made advertising to car retailers free during April and delayed payments for March by 30 days. Currently, dealerships pay monthly fees to the site to upload a set number of cars for the 53m consumers, who on average use the Auto Trader website to search for vehicles across the UK every month.
- MarketWatch
European stocks and equity futures fall on warning of high U.S. coronavirus death toll
European and U.S. equity futures fell sharply on Wednesday, in a weak start for the new quarter after experts predicted a staggering 100,000 to 240,000 U.S. deaths even after adhering to social distancing guidelines.
- Financial Times
BAT joins race to develop Covid-19 vaccine
The maker of Lucky Strike and Camel cigarettes has entered the fray of companies trying to develop a vaccine against Covid-19 — by growing a potential antigen in genetically engineered tobacco plants. British American Tobacco on Wednesday said its US biotech subsidiary Kentucky BioProcessing was using “proprietary, fast-growing tobacco plant technology” in pre-clinical testing on animals, making it one of dozens of companies and public sector organisations worldwide racing to develop a vaccine. BAT hopes to produce up to 3m doses a week from June to begin clinical testing.
- TheStreet.com
Dow Futures Slump After Grim Global Factory Data, Trump Warning on Coronavirus Deaths
Wall Street's worst quarter since 1987 looks set to continue Wednesday as risk markets around the world calculate the economic cost of the global coronavirus pandemic.
- Financial Times
Global shares tumble after dire warnings on virus toll
Global equity markets sold off heavily in the first trading session of the new quarter as investors digested a series of grim predictions about the human and economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. US stocks closed more than 4 per cent lower on Wednesday and debt markets signalled renewed concern about the creditworthiness of corporate and local government borrowers, despite the passage of a $2tn economic stimulus that had encouraged investors in the final days of March. The flight from risk assets followed the worst quarter for markets since the 2008 financial crisis and came after President Donald Trump warned late on Tuesday that up to 240,000 people could die in the US from Covid-19.
- Reuters
Auto Trader plans equity raise to shore up cash
"This equity raise will allow the group to resume its existing capital return policy at the earliest prudent opportunity," said the company, which has halted share buybacks and remained undecided about 2020 dividends. Auto Trader also said its entire board has offered to forego at least half of their salaries and that it will furlough its employees. Before the lockdown in the UK, Auto Trader had allowed auto retailers to advertise their vehicles on its website free of charge throughout April, leading to a record number of cars being displayed on its platform.
- Investing.com
Stocks - Europe Lower; Shutdowns Weigh on Asian Economies
European stock markets traded sharply lower Wednesday, as the latest round of purchasing manager surveys across Asia and Europe kept investors focused on the scale of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The broader based Stoxx 600 Europe index dropped 2.8%. Factory activity also dropped sharply across most of Asia in March, according to Markit's PMIs, with regional economic powerhouses Japan and South Korea, major exporters to Europe, posting their biggest contractions in about a decade.
