Weekly Trading Update
22.08.14 Friday Morning
With the markets, particularly the Dax, ending last week’s selling off aggressively in response to reports that Ukrainian soldiers had fired on an alleged Russian military convoy, European equity markets opened higher as there was no significant escalation over the weekend. The gains in Europe also assisted the US markets on Monday with the Dow opening around 90 points higher. US equities continued to progress higher all week with S&P 500 hitting both intra-day and closing at all-time highs.
Asian equities remain somewhat insulated to the volatility and, as the week progressed, Asian stocks first rallied after figures from the US showed confidence within the US housing sector, and then calmed after the recent record high levels.
In the UK, it was announced that the annual rate of inflation fell more than expected in July as the cost of clothing, footwear, food and non-alcoholic drinks eased. Economists had originally expected CPI inflation to fall to 1.8% in July, however the ONS said that CPI inflation fell from 1.9% to 1.6% a month earlier and for the three month period to the end of July, it was 1.7%. However, CPI remains above average wages which grew by just 0.6% in the three months to June.
On Wednesday, the dollar jumped against the euro after minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting showed the central bank was shifting its stance in a more aggressive direction. The dollar also rose 0.8% versus the yen, its highest level since 4th April; however the euro dropped 0.4% against the dollar to an 11-month low.
In technological news, Vodafone this week were listed as the worst mobile internet performance leading to an initial drop in share price. However shares rose following rumours that US mobile operator AT&T or China Mobile are planning to buy the mobile operator. Furthermore, technology giants Apple achieved a record close, with the share price surging to $100.53 ahead of the eagerly awaited launch of the iPhone 6 in September. This surge was aided by corporate raider Carl Icahn tweeting that he hadn’t sold any of the stock he holds in the company, reminding followers that the initial investment was a ‘no-brainer’ when he bought the shares 12 months earlier.
Stock of the week: Apple
Having traversed the $100 share price threshold, Apple is looking to be in a formidable position prior to releasing their new iPhone 6 this September. Carl Icahn tweeted to express his delight and also claimed that he still believed, even having reached this new record high, the company’s stock was still “extremely undervalued”. One of the key aspects to note is that over the past year, Apple’s stock has risen faster than main competitor Google whose stock has risen by 1001% as opposed to Apple’s which has risen by 4,469%.
Open (Monday)
6731.57
Close (Thursday)
6777.66
Change
46.09
High
6780.22
Low
6718.48
Open (Monday)
16760.07
Close (Thursday)
1679.38
Change
1.3%
High
16991.73
Low
16760.07
Open (Monday)
1299.15
Close (Thursday)
1277.85
Change
-0.86%
High
1303.15
Low
1274.15
Open (Monday)
1.6721
Close (Thursday)
1.6576
Change
-1.6
High
1.6725
Low
1.6567
Economic calendar:
Monday
- EUR – German Ifo Business Climate
- USD - New Home Sales
- NZD - Trade Balance
Tuesday
- GBP - BBA Mortgage Approvals
- USD - Core Durable Goods Orders
- USD - S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI y/y
- USD - CB Consumer Confidence
Wednesday
- AUD - Construction Work Done
- EUR - GfK German Consumer Climate
- USD - Crude Oil Inventories
Thursday
- AUD - Private Capital Expenditure q/q
- EUR - German Prelim CPI m/m
- CHF - Employment Level
- EUR - Italian 10-y Bond Auction
- USD - Prelim GDP q/q
- USD - Unemployment Claims
- USD - Pending Home Sales
- GBP - CBI Realized Sales
Friday
- JPY - Household Spending y/y
- JPY - Prelim Industrial Production m/m
- NZD - ANZ Business Confidence
- EUR - CPI Flash Estimate
- CAD - GDP m/m
- USD - Personal Spending m/m
Earnings calendar:
- URV Media PLC – Half year Earnings Release
- Petrofac Ltd – Half year Earnings Release
Wednesday
- Foxtons Group PLC – Half year Earnings Release
- Churchill China PLC – Interim Earnings Release
- EVRAZ – Earnings Release
Thursday
- SOCO International PLC – Interim Earnings Release
- STV Group PLC – Half year Earnings Release
- IP Group PLC – Half year Earnings Release
- Melrose Industries PLC – Half year Earnings Release
- Petropavlovsk – Earnings Release
- Unite Group – Earnings Release
- Xaar – Earnings Release
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