Spreadex Market Update

Faltering FTSE remains worlds away from determined DAX, with limp Dow somewhere in between




Starting the day 0.5% higher, but soon shrinking to a flattish shade of green, there wasn’t much for the Dow Jones to work with this afternoon. A better than expected Philly Fed manufacturing index figure (at -2.8 against -3.5 last month) and the best jobless claims number since the end of November (at 262k) were hardly enough to justify a major move upwards for the US index, which pootled along at a rather uninspiring pace as Thursday continued. If anything the Dow did well not to dip into the red, the index having to struggle against a dismal day for WalMart, which fell 5% as it cut its forwards outlook following a 7.9% decline in its fourth quarter earnings.

The Eurozone remained healthy as the day went on, even if the DAX (up just over 100 points) and the CAC (jumping around half a percent) fell below their intraday highs after lunchtime. It appears that the risk-flagging ECB monetary policy meeting minutes from earlier in the day refreshed hopes of an extra injection of stimulus in March, helping the region’s indices sustain their gains. In stark contrast to the largely buoyant Eurozone was the FTSE; the UK index tumbled around 40 points this Thursday as its commodity sector remained resolutely in the red despite Brent Crude holding steady at $35 per barrel.

Tomorrow should see a bit more excitement; well, it would if the USA’s latest inflation figures weren’t forecast to remain unchanged at -0.1%, something that could spell bad news for the rate hike-hoping dollar. Before that the pound will have its fingers crossed that analysts’ expectations of a post-Christmas retail sales rebound are accurate, forecast suggesting 0.8% growth against the 1.0% contraction seen last month.


DISCLAIMER


Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 64% of retail investors lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. For professional clients, spread betting and CFD trading can also result in losses larger than your initial stake or deposit.

Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, provides an execution only service and does not provide advice in any way. Nothing within this update should be deemed to constitute the provision of investment advice, recommendations, any other professional advice in any way, or a record of our trading prices. This update does not constitute or form part of an offer of, or solicitation for a transaction in any financial instrument, nor shall it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefore. Any persons placing trades based on their interpretation of the comments or information within this update does so entirely at their own risk.

No representation, warranty, or undertaking, express or limited, is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained within this update by Spreadex Ltd or any of its employees and no liability is accepted by such persons for the accuracy or completeness of any such information or opinions. As such, no reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information and opinions contained within this update.

The information contained within this update is the intellectual property of Spreadex Ltd and is protected by UK and International copyright laws. All rights reserved. Users may however freely download, distribute and reproduce extracts of the contents, subject always to accrediting Spreadex Ltd as the source and providing a hyperlink to www.spreadex.com.