September 24, 2012 Financial Market Summary

At 0500 BST today, FTSE 100 futures are trading 33.8 points lower.

At 0500 BST today, German DAX Xetra 30 futures are trading 7.7 points down, while French CAC-40 futures are trading 2.2 points lower.

At 0500 BST today, DJIA futures are trading 12.0 points down.

Nikkei 225 is trading 0.7% lower, at 9,050.4.

In Asia, crude oil for November delivery is trading 0.8% or $0.76 lower at $92.13 per barrel.

At 0400 BST today, the GBP is trading 0.2% lower against the USD at $1.6207, 0.2% higher against the EUR at €1.2529, and 0.3% lower against the JPY at ¥ 126.60.

US Market Snapshot

At 0500 BST today, DJIA futures are trading 12.0 points down.

On Friday, DJIA edged down 0.1% to end at 13,579.5. NASDAQ ticked up 0.1% to settle at 3,180.0. S&P 500 slipped marginally to close at 1,460.2.

US stocks pared earlier gains and closed mostly lower on Friday, as mounting worries over floundering global economy overshadowed speculation about a probable Spanish bail-out.

Coca-Cola fell 1.6%, after SunTrust Banks announced it would sell its stake worth $ 1.2 billion in the company. FedEx dropped 1.0%, as investors continued to fret over its weak quarterly results.

Research In Motion tumbled 6.5%, after its service outage in Europe, the Middle East and Africa lasted several hours.

However, KB Home gained 16.4%, as it swung to a surprise third-quarter profit. Apple edged up 0.2%, as the latest iPhone 5 hit stores around the globe, while mobile carriers, supporting the new iPhone, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel advanced between 0.3% and 3.9%.

After the closing bell, MetLife jumped 2.7% as it amended terms to sell its online banking operation to GE Capital Retail Bank. Discover Financial edged up 0.4%, despite its settlement of around $200 million to cardholders over US phone marketing.

Asian Market Snapshot

Asian stock markets are trading lower this morning, amid an impasse in discussions to resolve the eurozone crisis as France and Germany disagreed over a timeframe to introduce joint oversight of the region’s banking sector.

In Japan, Komatsu and Hitachi Construction Machinery paced losses, as their US peer, Caterpillar reported growth in sales for June-August period slightly down from the increase posted for the May-July period.

In Hong Kong, China Eastern Airlines fell, after it announced a temporarily delay in introduction of a new route between Shanghai and Sendai.

In South Korea, Hyundai Securities and Hana Financial paced declines, amid dwindling risk appetite amongst traders. Samsung Electronics lost value after the successful launch of the latest smart-phone from Apple.

Nikkei 225 is trading 0.7% lower, at 9,050.4. Hang Seng index is trading 0.3% down, at 20,675.8, while the Kospi index is trading 0.5% lower, at 1,991.7.

UK Market Snapshot

At 0500 BST today, FTSE 100 futures are trading 33.8 points lower.

The Sunday Times reported that BP, which is mulling to acquire a stake in Russian entity Rosneft, would appoint a prominent Russian to its board of directors as part of a new commercial alliance with the Kremlin.

According to a Thomson Reuters estimate, financial advisers on the proposed BAE-EADS merger could be in line to earn about $76 million.

European Market Snapshot

At 0500 BST today, German DAX Xetra 30 futures are trading 7.7 points down, while French CAC-40 futures are trading 2.2 points lower.

Daimler is expected to extend the contract of Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche by three years to 2016. It also plans to extend the contracts of trucks CEO Andreas Renschler and development chief Thomas Weber.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that Lucent Technologies World Services, an Alcatel-Lucent subsidiary, has agreed to pay the US $4.2 million to settle claims allegations linked to its contracts in Iraq.

Commodities

In Asia, crude oil for November delivery is trading 0.8% or $0.76 lower at $92.13 per barrel.

On Friday, crude oil for November delivery gained 0.5% or $0.47 to $92.89 per barrel, capping sharp declines recorded earlier in the week, on rising optimism that Spain was moving closer to seeking a sovereign-debt bailout package and as the dollar weakened against the euro, increasing the demand for the commodities as an alternative investment.

Gold for immediate delivery is trading 0.8% lower today, at $1,759.75 per ounce.

Gold for December delivery settled up 0.4% or $7.80 at $1,778.00 per ounce on Friday, as the dollar weakened against the major currencies, increasing the demand for the precious metal as a hedge against inflation.

On Friday, copper 3-month futures gained 0.7% or $60.5, to close at $8,280.50 /MT. Aluminium 3-month futures traded flat to close at $2,025.00 /MT.

Currencies

At 0400 BST today, the GBP is trading 0.2% lower against the USD at $1.6207, 0.2% higher against the EUR at €1.2529, and 0.3% lower against the JPY at ¥126.60.

The EUR is trading 0.4% lower against the USD at $1.2937 and 0.5% lower against the JPY at ¥101.05, on news that Germany and France have disagreed on a timeframe to centralize European banking supervision and ahead of a report which is expected to show German business confidence stayed near the lowest in more than two years in September.

The AUD is trading lower against the USD, on concerns that slowing Asian economies and uncertainty over eurozone debt crisis might hamper Australia's economic growth rate later this year.

On Friday, the EUR ended higher against the USD, amid rising speculation that Spain might soon request financial aid to boost its faltering economy. According to a report, Spain is considering freezing pensions and speeding up a planned rise in the retirement age as it attempts to cut spending and meet conditions of an expected international aid package.

The GBP closed higher against the USD, following better-than-expected UK public sector borrowing numbers for August and as demand for riskier currency increased amid optimism over Spain’s stance on the bailout package.

The USD ended lower against the EUR and other major counterparts, as demand for the safe haven currency decreased amid mounting optimism that central banks stimulus would revive the global economic growth.

Macroeconomic Snapshot

Knight Frank/Markit's house price sentiment index in the UK rose to a reading of 46.8 in September, compared to a reading of 44.5 recorded in August.

UK public sector net borrowing (PSNB) stood at £14.4 billion in August, the biggest deficit for the month since records began.

The European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member, Benoit Coeure stated that, policy makers at the ECB are unlikely to cut interest rates further, given the high inflation rate and improvement in Euro-area's economic outlook.

The ECB Executive Board member, Peter Praet in an opinion piece in German Finance Ministry's monthly report wrote that, inflation expectations in the eurozone are firmly anchored.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for Germany edged up 0.1% to a reading of 102.6 in July.

For the week ended 14 September 2012, the ECRI Leading US Index rose 2.7% to 125.4, from 124.7 in the previous week.

 

Source: www.etxcapital.com