Spreadex Market Update

FTSE comes off recent highs



The FTSE has come off its recent highs in today’s session as the bulls were kept at bay by a mixture of poor macro-economic data and downbeat earnings. Trading 0.6% lower by 12:00pm, Royal Dutch Shell alone took around 8 points off the UK blue chip index after the oil major's fourth quarter profit came in nearly $400 million short of expectations.

Sentiment was also hurt ahead of non-farm payroll data due out on Friday by concerns about the U.S. economy a key market for Britain's heavyweight exporters -- after data showed an unexpected contraction in fourth quarter gross domestic product and the U.S. Federal Reserve acknowledged that economic activity had stalled.

We had a wealth of economic data from the U.S. at 1:30 today which on the face of it would seem to have pleased those anticipating bearish market movements. However as we are becoming accustomed to in this recent climate, the Wall Street Futures have not reacted in a manner expected and are in fact trading slightly higher than before the figures were released.

Whilst Initial Jobless Claims in the U.S. were higher than expected (368,000) and the latest GDP figures showed contraction, analysts fully expect GDP growth to rebound around 2% in the first quarter. This expansion has been credited to a mounting housing recovery, a steadily improving job market and reviving demand for U.S. exports.

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