Market Snapshot
European shares traded lower this morning as hopes for substantial quantitative easing from the US were hit by a Wall Street Journal report, which saw the dollar appreciate and commodity prices come under pressure.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Fed “is likely to unveil a program of US Treasury bond purchases worth a few hundred billion dollars over several months, a measured approach in contrast to purchases of nearly $2 trillion it unveiled during the financial crisis.” The figures disappointed investors who had been factoring in a more substantial money injection.
Elsewhere, Asian governments continue to keep a close eye on asset flows and currency. China is making changes to how it monitors cross-boarder asset flows, South Korea is considering the reintroduction of taxes on foreign bond investors, and the Singaporean central bank pointed to the risks of capital inflows to the region and called for “close monitoring” on monetary policy.
By midday the FTSE 100 index had lost 0.4% or 23.7 points and stood at 5,684 points, and the FTSE 250 was at 10,895 points, also 0.4% or 46 points lower. Having previously depreciated on the back of substantial QE2 expectations, the US dollar recovered and in turn pushed commodity prices lower. Miners were among the biggest blue-chip fallers.
Wall Street futures point to a weaker start ahead of durable goods orders and new home sales data for September, as well as a speech from Deputy Fed Governor William C. Dudley later this evening.
Market Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Barclays (BARC), Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), up 1.2-1.8%: Bank shares buoyed by forecast-topping results from Deutsche Bank (DBK) and Nordea (NDA).
United Utilities Group (UU.), Severn Trent (SVT), Centrica (CNA), up 0.6-1.6%: Defensive stocks gain as QE2 expectations are lowered.
Essar Energy (ESSR), up 0.6%: Market responds favourably to CFO appointment for the company’s India Operations.
Market Fallers
Kazakhmys (KAZ), Xstrata (XTA), Rio Tinto (RIO), down 1.9-3.4%: Sector tracks falling commodity prices.
Whitbread (WTB), Rolls-Royce (RR), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), down 0.9-2.6%: Shares lose payout appeal as they trade ex-dividend.