Spreadex Market Update

Markets hold gains



The fact that markets have so far managed to hold onto yesterday’s gains has been completely overshadowed by the lampooning of London listed bank, Barclays.

By now, even those most detached from the financial industry will have probably heard about the fixing of LIBOR, a rate against which nearly all derivatives are priced.

Investors realise that the incentive structures of financial behemoths of the last crisis and of today provided scope not only to create a fierce will to make money but to potentially invoke actions that are sometimes morally questionable and indeed unlawful.

And Barclays, it seems, has not acted alone in this scam, with other banks soon to face investigation.

How much damage the manipulation of LIBOR might cause to these banks, their reputation, and their investors’ confidence remains to be seen.

But there’s certainly little upside to be taken from the announcement.

Barclays is down by more than 10% in late morning trading after opening higher this morning in spite of the headlines seen yesterday and today. The 10% move in the stock highlights volatility and the ability for sentiment to significantly change.

Important, too, is to consider the building momentum of public scrutiny. Whilst the settlement figure of £290m is damaging, the market has wiped more than £2bn from the market capitalisation of the bank in a matter of hours. Clearly, the market currently believes the monetary impact of future uncertainty to be more significant than the settlement figure alone. But, as this morning’s calm open illustrates, prices are subject to change.

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.