Brief Relief as Rally fades : UK Indices End in the Red as Sentiment Remains Fearful

The morning's enthusiasm turned into more selling in the afternoon as holders took the opportunity to sell out of positions at better  prices than have been on offer over the past few days. This does reflect current fearful sentiment. It is probably too early to label this as bear market "sell the rips" (the opposite to the bull market "buy the dips"): where  rallies get sold as the prevailing trend is downward. That said, it is certainly not indicative of a V shaped recovery.   It is more likely we will see more choppy markets over the coming days if not weeks as the recent huge moves are digested and market participants look for more surety in either direction . Government interventions with fiscal and relief packages may help boost confidence: conversely, more draconian restrictions on mobility and economic activity may further dent confidence on outlooks and likely duration and impact  of the coronavirus epidemic. Tomorrow will see the UK's chancellor, Rishi Sunak,  announce the budget which must surely allow for the impacts of coronavirus while Thursday will see the ECB's Laguarde announce  the next policy decisions and mitigations for the virus

In terms of sector moves today ,

on the rise were Equity investment and Alternative Energy sectors outperformed with Oil and Gas also staging a rebound as Brent crude rallied a further 2% to over $37:

falling were Tobacco, Utilities and Electricity

Comparing the changes in the sentiment dashboard from 11:30 this am to 17:30  after the close below highlights how the markets withered with the FTSE 100 failing to hang onto the 6000 level having exceed 6200 intraday. One third of the stock rallying turned red in the afternoon .

Elevated volatility looks set to continue for the foreseeable.