Spreadex Market Update
Pound hits 2 month high against fretful euro
"Arguably the biggest news of the morning came, once again, from the banking sector, with Lloyds the latest company to post its annual results."
It will be interesting to see what state both the FTSE and pound are in after the second estimate Q4 GDP reading later in the day. Analysts are expecting the figure to remain unchanged at 0.6%, though a few pieces of positive data from the end of last year does mean it could be revised higher to 0.7%. If that is the case the pound may well absorb most of the market’s goodwill, something that could see it cross both $1.25 and €1.19 (while potentially keeping the FTSE away from 7300).
Arguably the biggest news of the morning came, once again, from the banking sector, with Lloyds the latest company to post its annual results. Statutory pre-tax profit at the partially government-owned bank more than doubled year-on-year, from £1.6 billion to a slightly lower than expected £4.2 billion, in part thanks to the fact that its conduct charges more than halved to (an admittedly still hefty) £2.1 billion. A 13% increase in its total ordinary dividend, alongside a special dividend of 0.5p per share (something analysts speculated might not happen thanks to Lloyds’ £1.9 billion MBNA purchase at the end of 2016) was the cherry on top for investors, who send the stock 3.5% higher after the bell.
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