Spreadex Market Update

UK unemployment drops but FTSE still struggling



Unlike the rest of Europe, as the DAX (+0.71%), and CAC (+0.39%) both see strong growth, the FTSE has been straining to stay afloat. With a brief period in the green midday, it is now down -0.29%.

Promising unemployment data being lower than the 4.4% expected at 4.3%, does not seem to have had the desired effect, potentially due to job vacancies rising to a record 1.2 million.

PwC are expecting these figures to put further pressure on the Bank of England to put interest rates up.

Another major factor will be the FTSE 100’s largest company, Astrazeneca, being the worst performer today, as their shares have dropped over 5%.

Vodafone has somewhat stopped the bleeding thanks to strong half-year numbers, causing their shares to rise over 6% at lunchtime.

Investors will be keeping their ears to the ground for CPI figures tomorrow at 7:00am. If this figure is higher than the expected 3.9%, it will likely lead to UK markets seeing another poor day of trading.

Natural Gas has seen a significant hike in price of almost 6% due to Germany temporarily suspending certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This could have significant implications over the coming months as it could further worsen the inflation situation across Europe.

US markets have been boosted today by positive data on the consumer, alongside strong earnings figures.

Retail sales were betting than expected, rising 1.7% over the predicted 1.4% possibly due to consumers getting Christmas shopping done early on fears of supply chain issues.

In addition, retail giants, Walmart and Home Depot, both posted very impressive sales figures much higher than expected.

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