LONDON MARKET EARLY CALL: FTSE 100 to eat into some lost ground

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, after US President Joe Biden ...

Alliance News 22 July, 2024 | 5:54AM
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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, after US President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid and threw his weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris, while China's central bank cut key interest rates to boost the economy.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 34.2 points higher, 0.4%, 8.189.92 on Monday. The index of London large-caps ended down 49.17 points, 0.6%, at 8,155.72 on Friday.

US economic data will be a key focus this week, with a gross domestic product reading on Thursday, before the Federal Reserve's preferred core personal consumption expenditures inflation gauge on Friday.

Political developments hogged the spotlight at the start of the week, however, after Biden opted against pursuing a second term as US president.

"The news is, largely, as had been expected – after much pressure, and the disastrous debate performance at the end of June, Joe Biden has declined the Democratic nomination, and dropped out of the presidential race. While it remains to be seen how the nominee will now be decided, Biden’s endorsement, as well as that of a host of other lawmakers in Congress, leaves VP Harris in pole position to sit at the top of the ticket come polling day," Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented.

"Of course, this raises many questions as to the political, macroeconomic, and market, impacts of what is, in modern times at least, an unprecedented action from a sitting president."

The pound traded at USD1.2914 early Monday, almost unmoved from USD1.2915 at the time of the London equities close Friday. Against the dollar, the euro was unchanged at USD1.0885. Versus the yen, the dollar faded to JPY157.07 from JPY157.36.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.9%, the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.0%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.6%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.1%, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was down 0.7%.

China's central bank on Monday cut two benchmark interest rates in a bid to boost lending and kickstart growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Beijing is battling an unprecedented crisis in the country's vast real estate sector, continued weak consumption and a high youth unemployment rate, while geopolitical tensions with Washington and the EU threaten its foreign trade.

A year and a half after the lifting of health restrictions that stunted economic activity, the much-hoped-for post-Covid recovery was brief and less robust than expected.

Monday's rate cuts, anticipated by some economists, are supposed to encourage commercial banks to grant more credit and at more advantageous rates.

The one-year loan prime rate, which constitutes the benchmark for the most advantageous rates that banks can offer to businesses and households, was cut from 3.45% to 3.35%, having been last lowered in August.

The five-year rate, the benchmark for mortgage loans, was reduced from 3.95% to 3.85%, following a trim in February.

Brent oil was quoted at USD83.00 a barrel early Monday, down from USD84.04 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. Gold was quoted at USD2,404.65 an ounce, slightly up from USD2,404.10.

Monday's UK corporate calendar has a trading update from Glasgow-based cloud computing and connectivity provider Beeks Financial Cloud Group, and half-year results from Edinburgh-based investor Aberforth Smaller Cos Trust.

Monday's economic calendar has a German retail sales reading at 0700 BST.

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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