Today on The Economy News
Apple Inc. and QUALCOMM, Inc. see ratings downgraded to Sell ahead of “hardware at cost or a loss” era
Analysts at Berenberg Bank have today told clients that they are bearish on the Technology Hardware sector with Sell calls issued from sector leaders like Apple and Samsung right through to laggards such as Nokia and Blackberry.
Latest on The Economy News
- Outlook for Gulfsands Petroleum plc (GPX): Shares tipped to head lower towards 80.5 ahead of rebound
- FX Alert: Pound sterling forecasted to rebound against US dollar say Lloyds Bank in strategic currency note
- Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar on the back-foot against the British pound sterling
- Pound euro exchange rate knocking on the door of 1.16; UK GDP update, Bank of England, UK retail sales all fail to provide a lift
- British pound sterling: GBP under the cosh versus EUR; but welcome relief rallies in play against US dollar and Australian dollar
- BT Group plc: BT.A shares could see profit taking as investors book profits, consider Hyperoptic and 'strange' speculation about a Dutch acquisitio
- Brokers: Vodafone Group Plc and Thomas Cook Group Plc upgraded, ARM Holdings plc and Kingfisher downgraded
- Australian Dollar Outlook deteriorates as China disappoints; AUD under pressure right across the board
- Euro Exchange Rate Forecast: Outlook for the euro dominated by impending PMI releases, EUR steady in London morning trade
- Pound sterling outlook: GBP under pressure vs EUR and USD but makes advances vs AUD - 1.5000/15 to provide support for GBP-USD
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FTSE 100 Tuesday the 18th: Spain again! A touch of nervers sees defensive stocks in demand
- Details
- Category: The FTSE 100 Live - The Heart-Beat of the FTSE 100
- Published on Tuesday, 18 September 2012 15:39
Close of Play
The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) is 0.31 pct in the red at 5,875.80 at 4:17 in London.
Commenting at the close of play this afternoon is Angus Campbell at Capital Spreads:
"Spain is back in the spotlight and making investors a little nervous again, causing many to question whether the strong rally at the end of last week has any further to go. Despite a decent bond auction by the country the yield on their 10 year government bond is hovering around the 6% mark, acting as a reminder that one of the eurozone’s biggest economies in teetering on the edge of a full blown bailout.
"Concerns surrounding the Chinese economy are also re-emerging and keeping a lid on the gains of the London stock index which is heavily weighted in mining stocks. Their reliance on the world’s second largest economy to keep booming is always going to be affected by hints that a hard landing is becoming more and more of a reality.
"Not even better than expected German investor sentiment figures could pull the markets back into positive territory, but the bulls will be encouraged that there was at least a bounce of the intraday lows."
Predictably defensive stocks were in demand, British American Tobacco plc was at the top of the leader board after notching gains of 2.81%.
10:15 AM: Vodafone Group outperforms.
The UK's leading index is 0.6 pct in the red at 5,857.98. Spanish bond yields are above 6pct once more indicating a renewed focus on the Eurozone.
The Bank of Spain has just reported a rise in bad bank loans, to a new record high. A total of 9.86% of loans made by Spanish banks are now in arrears, up from 9.42% in June.
Spanish banks balance sheets have turned increasingly toxic since the financial crisis began, mainly due to borrowings made in the property boom.
Over in Greece a government minister predicted that the Greek economy will have shrunk by a quarter before the crisis is over.
Vodafone Group plc (LON:VOD) shares are out-performing on the UK's leading index this morning after clearly missing out on the recent mini bull run.
The Telegraph's Questor share-tipper is upbeat on Vodafone which has suffered following Indian government manoeuvres to hit it with a $2.2bn tax bill related to the 2007 purchase of Hutchison Whampoa’s Indian unit.
Questor believes the fears are overcooked and Vodafone offers a fantastic yield of around 7.5%. Trading at 11 times earnings and with big revenues from its US interests, Vodafone shares are therefore a buy.
See how GSK and IMT are also outperforming this morning.
8:40 AM: Off to a poor start, Standard Chartered profit outlook in focus
The UK 100 has opened some 0.5 pct in the red this morning at 5,860:
"European equity markets are trading lower this morning on the back of US markets posting moderate declines mirroring the profit taking seen earlier in Europe and on concerns that current tensions between China and Japan over a group of islands might escalate," says Markus Huber at ETX Capital.
With tensions getting worse in Asia and uncertainty growing investors are becoming once again more risk averse with stocks currently not necessary their first choice when it comes to investment decisions.
Looking ahead Huber says centre stage this morning is the important German ZEW index: "after having shown weakness in the past few months with the European financial crisis finally also catching up with Germany a modest rebound is expected today reflecting recent more stable financial markets and declining periphery yields."
Standard Chartered plc (LON:STAN) is in focus as the company tries to reset the market's view of STAN stock.
At yesterday's investor day Standard Chartered asked investors to forget about the recent Iran sanction-busting drama - rather focus should be fixed on a doubling of profits over the next five years.
"It is no unreasonable for us to be looking at 10bn USD operating profit in 2016 ," says Standard Chartered's wholesale banking boss Mike Rees.
Standard Chartered shares are 1.88 pct in the red at 1485.
Latest on The Economy News
- Outlook for Gulfsands Petroleum plc (GPX): Shares tipped to head lower towards 80.5 ahead of rebound
- FX Alert: Pound sterling forecasted to rebound against US dollar say Lloyds Bank in strategic currency note
- Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar on the back-foot against the British pound sterling
- Pound euro exchange rate knocking on the door of 1.16; UK GDP update, Bank of England, UK retail sales all fail to provide a lift
- British pound sterling: GBP under the cosh versus EUR; but welcome relief rallies in play against US dollar and Australian dollar
- BT Group plc: BT.A shares could see profit taking as investors book profits, consider Hyperoptic and 'strange' speculation about a Dutch acquisitio
- Brokers: Vodafone Group Plc and Thomas Cook Group Plc upgraded, ARM Holdings plc and Kingfisher downgraded
