- FTSE 100 up 5 points at 8253
- Nvidia last night topped $3trn to overtake Apple in terms of size
- ECB meeting today expected to deliver rate cut
8.52am: N Brown back in the black
It's a pretty quiet day in terms of blue-chip corporate results, but there's some mid-cap numbers out, including from Jacamo and SimplyBe owner N Brown Group PLC (AIM:BWNG).
The finals results from the struggling home shopping group N Brown are "nothing to shout about", says independent retail analyst Nick Bubb, with total revenue down 10%.
But adjusted EBITDA, while nearly 13% down, are above market expectations and that the company has returned to statutory profits.
CEO Steve Johnson trumpets that "we have delivered against our strategic and financial objectives this year”, while also saying that in current trading, the rate product revenue decline "has moderated", with Q1 declining by 6% and "this improvement is expected to continue as the year progresses".
8.44am: European markets up ahead of ECB decision
Ahead of the ECB meeting later, the FTSE's small gain is being eclipsed by those on the European mainland, with the ex-dividend stocks weighing on the UK market.
The FTSE 250 is up 66 points at 20,730.
In Europe, the DAX is leading with a 0.81% rise, France's CAC 40 up 0.40%, Spain's Ibex 0.37% and Italy's FTSE MIB ahead 0.24%. The wider Stoxx 600 has risen 0.58%.
8.33am: Can anything stop Nvidia?
A stunning fact is that, in just two years, Nvidia's market cap has increased more than 600%, with the chipmaker’s valuation rocket past Netflix, past Tesla, past Google, Broadcom, Amazon and Meta, to also overtake Apple in the past 24 hours.
As of this moment, Nvidia is valued at $3.01 trillion versus Apple’s measly $3 trillion.
The gap is expected to widen even further when US markets open today, with pre-market trades pointing to a 0.95% gain on Nvidia stock and a 0.17% loss on Apple stock, writes my colleague Billy Farrington as he takes a look at the meteoric rise of the semiconductor innovator.
8.27am: Modestly positive market sentiment
Positive stock market sentiment has been rekindled after an erratic May, says Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
Investors will remain on "high alert" for further economic developments unfolding, he adds.
In the year to date, the FTSE 100 is up 6.7%, Nasdaq is ahead by 14.5% and the S&P 500 by 12.2%, Germany's Dax has risen around 11.6% and Japan's Nikkei jumped 16.3%.
Focusing on this morning, Hunter says: "The London market edged higher at the open, with tentative buying interest in the mining sector offsetting some of the more recent weakness across oil and commodity prices in general.
"Such weakness has tempered gains in the FTSE 100 after a record-breaking level was reached in May ... and despite the uncertainty of an imminent general election, the more domestically focused FTSE 250 has reversed early year losses to stand up by 5.3% in the year to date, latterly propelled by a UK economy which is seeing some benefit from easing inflation and the possibility of lower interest rates, in addition to recently having left a short and shallow technical recession."
He says the appetite for tech stocks is also driving many global indices higher.
"The likelihood of an interest rate cut later today from the ECB also boosted sentiment, potentially signalling a new era of easier monetary conditions across the globe," Hunter adds.
8.16am: FTSE reshuffle confirmed
In the UK, the FTSE index reshuffle was confirmed last night, involving three demotions from the blue-chip index, with LondonMetric Property, Vistry Group and Darktrace (temporarily as it is being taken over) replacing Ocado, RS Group and St James's Place.
Dropping out of the FTSE 250 into the small caps will be Ferrexpo, Mobico Group (National Express) and Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust, replaced by Alpha Group International, Renewi and XPS Pensions Group.
8.08am: FTSE starts higher, ex-divs weigh
The FTSE 100 is ambling higher, as predicted, rising 12 points or 0.15% to 8259 in the first few minutes of trading.
Top risers initially are copper miner Antofagasta, up 2.5%, and precious metals miner Fresnillo, though it's not immediately clear why.
Burberry and Rolls-Royce are next.
Vodafone is the big faller, down 5.8% after going ex-dividend.
Other ex-div fallers include WPP, Informa, Sainsbury and National Grid.
7.56am: More weak data from Germany
After recent data showed German inflation and unemployment claims increasing, this morning we hear that factory orders in Germany fell by 0.2% month-to-month in April, below the consensus for a 0.6% increase after a revised 0.8% decline in March.
The year-over-year rate improved to -1.6%. Net revisions to the month-to-month data were down 0.4%.
"This was a good deal weaker than we expected," says economist Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics, but the headline number was held back by a big fall in major orders that masks a 2.9% jump in core orders, which is more in line with forecasts.
7.49am: Regulator calls for scrutiny of AI sector
In a big tech story after the barnstorming Nvidia performance last night, there are reports that a major US investigation is brewing into the three major players in AI.
The New York Times reports that the US Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have reached a deal that allows them to proceed with antitrust investigations into the dominant roles that Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia are playing in the industry.
The two regulators have reached a deal to split responsibility for investigating the three major players in AI.
US antitrust watchdog also says "urgent scrutiny" is needed over big tech’s control of AI, according to a Financial Times story, where Department of Justice chief Jonathan Kanter says he is examining "monopoly choke points and the competitive landscape" in AI, covering aspects from computing power and data utilised for training large language models to cloud service providers, engineering talent, and essential hardware like graphics processing unit chips.
Regulators must act "with urgency" to prevent dominant tech companies from monopolising the market, he says, though he suggests a "real time" intervention can be "less invasive" for industries.
7.31am: Fever-Tree mixes top line gains with market growth
Fevertree Drinks (AIM:FEVR) said it remained "comfortable with full year expectations", reporting market share gains and topline growth.
Ahead of its AGM, the company issued a statement to say that it anticipates a strong summer trading period with new marketing initiatives.
In the UK, Fever-Tree has solidified its leading position, especially in the rum, vodka and cocktail mixer categories, while in the US it boasted that its products continue to be "the biggest contributor to growth within the carbonated mixer category", while also growing ahead of the market in Europe.
7.14am: Positive start expected for FTSE 100
The FTSE 100 is expected to hit the ground jogging on Thursday, after a strong finish on Wall Street overnight and ahead of the European Central Bank meeting later today.
Spread-betters have tipped the London benchmark to add 15 points this morning, adding to the 15 it made yesterday to finish at 8,246.95.
Last night Nvidia rocketed 5% to a new record higher, leading a tech melt-up, as the Nasdaq Composite index surged 1.95% and the S&P 500 jumped 1.18%, with the Dow Jones rising a more humdrum 0.25%.
Nvidia's continued ascent, up 154% this year, meant it topped a $3 trillion market cap and overtook Apple to become the second largest company in the world by market valuation.
Driving the mood yesterday were various factors, including weak ADP data and Canada's central bank cutting rates.
Lower yields boosted appetite in global indices, said market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank. "The Canadian TSX rebounded past its 50-DMA, the European SXXP jumped while the S&P 500 was catapulted to a fresh record for the 25th time this year. Yes the S&P 500 renewed record 25 times since this year started – regardless of the fact that we spent most of the year scaling back the Fed cut bets and are still not sure if the Fed will be able to cut rates this year at all."
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5wcm9hY3RpdmVpbnZlc3RvcnMuY28udWsvY29tcGFuaWVzL25ld3MvMTA0OTI1OS9mdHNlLTEwMC1saXZlLXN0b2Nrcy1zZXQtdG8taGl0LXRoZS1ncm91bmQtam9nZ2luZy1hZnRlci13YWxsLXN0cmVldC1zdXJnZS0xMDQ5MjU5Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5
2024-06-06 06:06:00Z
CBMikwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5wcm9hY3RpdmVpbnZlc3RvcnMuY28udWsvY29tcGFuaWVzL25ld3MvMTA0OTI1OS9mdHNlLTEwMC1saXZlLXN0b2Nrcy1zZXQtdG8taGl0LXRoZS1ncm91bmQtam9nZ2luZy1hZnRlci13YWxsLXN0cmVldC1zdXJnZS0xMDQ5MjU5Lmh0bWzSAQA
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar