UK Markets Narrative Tues 25 Sep 18 EOD
The UKX was further lifted by NXT pleasing investors with its second quarter TU: rallying almost 10% intraday. There was no halo effect for the rest of this embattled sector with the MCIX Gen Retailers all losing ground; CARD reported today and dropped over 5%.
Other sectors in the green today included Mining +1.9%, Pharm +1.3%, Software +1.2%
Utilities continued to underperform losing 1% today while Gen Industrials and REITs also dropped around 1%.
The MCIX closed down 0.2% weighed on by Financial Services (IGG, PLUS) Banks and Retailers. AIM was flat on the day while the TechMARK rallied led by Software and Electronics & Electricals.
GBP firmed against USD up over 0.3% at pixel
UK Markets Narrative Fri 05 Oct 18 EOD
The week ended with further weakness across all of UK indices with almost all indices down 1% or more. GBP strengthened against USD which provided some headwinds for the UKX and NMX. Brent yielding over 1% on the day did inflict some damage on the O&G sector but equally some profit taking is also to be expected given recent runs. That might also be applicable to Mining which suffered the most today losing over 3% although AAL and AAL lost 4% and 5% respectively with BLT and RIO close behind them: there are suggestion that weakness in China may also be a root cause. Almost all sectors were down on the day with only Utilities and REITs showing green: a sign of some defensive positioning given the recent weakness across most UK markets
The day ended with NMX -1.1%, UKX -1.2%, MCIX -0.75%, AIM -1.31 and TechMARK -1.2%
US NFP jobs number did nothing to soothe neither domestic US nor UK and European markets woes: the assumption being higher rates sooner may now be more likely.
We end the first week of October deeply in the red on all UK indices and on all timescales:
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UK Markets Narrative Thurs 04 Oct 18 EOD
UK Markets Narrative Wed 03 Oct 18 EOD
TSCO started the day on a downer as profits disappointed investors, closing down almost 9% on the day and dragging the F&D Retail sector into the red with it. OCDO, SBRY and MRW did seem unperturbed closing the day up 1-2% to the good suggesting this is a TSCO problem and not a sector one
The MCIX Was up a more muted 0.2% while AIM rallied 0.3%. The TechMARK performed the best up 0.6% with BATM and CCC up almost 5% on the day.
IN the commodities complex, gold dipped back below $1200 while the base metals were all flat to positive on the day
UK Markets Narrative Tues 02 Oct 18 EOD
The MCIX dropped 0.8% while AIM was down by almost 1.5% with ASOS, BUR and LTG inflicting much of the damage down -5%, -8% and -8% respectively.
The TechMARK bled the least today down only 0.23% as Pharms remain bullish with the sector up 0.45%. Other islands of green included Mining up 1.4% and O&G +0.13%.
Brent remains just shy of $85 while GBP dropped below $1.30 today which should bolster the FTSE if wider macro concerns abate.
For now all major UK indices are bearish on all timescale except AIM and the TechMARK although both of these are short and mid term bearish.
UK Markets Narrative Mon 01 Oct 18 EOD
UKX closed flat on the day, muted by a boost to GBP /USD but offset by a further uptick in oil with Brent now above $83. The oilers and O&G services responded to the rallying oil price with improving price action with BP just shy of £6 for the first time since pre-Deepwater Horizon days of 2010.
Mining pulled back again down 0.3% as the sector consolidated following the recent manic up-thrust in price. Banks remain bearish and sold-off while Pharm was flat and T&L positive
Support Services rallied over 1% with RTO, DCC and SRP all firmly in the green by 3-5%.
MCIX was boosted up 0.5% presumably aided by Hammond’s business friendly speech at the Conservative Party Conference. AIM was up 0.4% while the TechMARK managed 0.2%
Elsewhere in the commodities complex, base metals were mainly negative with copper down 0.6% while gold and silver continue to tumble following the price action from last week’s FOMC announcement.
UK Markets Narrative Fri 28 Sep 18 EOD
Outperforming sectors included Utilities, A&D, O&G services , Mining, T&L all up on the day
Banks were down 2% accounting for most of the main index losses along with Non-life insurance was down over 3% while Mobile comms was down 2%
Oil rallied on the day while GBP sold off against USD
UK Markets Narrative Thurs 27 Sep 18 EOD
The Tech MARK closed up 0.45% helped by the Pharms.
Banks Pharm, O&G, Media, Utilities and Tobacco all had a good day in green while Mining pulled back another 0.8% with FS dragged lower by IGG (-13%) and TCAP (-7%). With PLUS and CMCX joining IGG in bear territory, questions must be in investors’ minds on the full effects of legislation changes on this sector.
Oil continued to hold around the $82 level which augers well for the oilers and oil services sectors.
Gold slipped below the $1200 on stronger USD while the base metals were mixed with iron ore down almost 2% and copper mildly in the red.
UK Markets Narrative Wed 26 Sep 18 EOD
There were some major price moves with INDV bombing just before the close on a TU - down 16.5% on the day: AA also lost almost 14% today blaming poor weather for higher costs owing to the number of call-outs.
Miners gave back some recent gains where profit taking took the sector down 1.7% on the day: similarly, O&G Producers slipped by 0.7%
Outperforming sectors of note included Tobacco, Food Producers, F&D Retail , T&L all +0.6%: Banks , Pharm and non Life Insurance all +0.5%
Oil closed flat as did cable with base metals treading water. Gold and silver sold-off which may be presaging further dollar strength following the FOMC rate decision at 19:00
UK Markets Narrative Tues 25 Sep 18 EOD
The UKX was further lifted by NXT pleasing investors with its second quarter TU: rallying almost 10% intraday. There was no halo effect for the rest of this embattled sector with the MCIX Gen Retailers all losing ground; CARD reported today and dropped over 5%.
Other sectors in the green today included Mining +1.9%, Pharm +1.3%, Software +1.2%
Utilities continued to underperform losing 1% today while Gen Industrials and REITs also dropped around 1%.
The MCIX closed down 0.2% weighed on by Financial Services (IGG, PLUS) Banks and Retailers. AIM was flat on the day while the TechMARK rallied led by Software and Electronics & Electricals.
GBP firmed against USD up over 0.3% at pixel
UK Markets Narrative Fri 21 Sep 18 EOD
This cheer was not shared across all indices and sectors as the MCIX ended the day flat with the likes of JD down almost 5%, GNS -4.5%, with £1bn plus mid -caps IPO, WKP, GFRD and SRP all down over 3%.
AIM closed up over 0.5% while the TechMARK closed up 0.7% with CCC rallying over 5% and MCRO up 2.7%.
Brent touched $80 intraday before retreating and was flat on the day at pixel. Gold reversed sharply on the day from a touch over 1211 to a low of 1191 in less than 30 minutes. Silver did similar but recovered lost ground in a similar time. Copper was up over 4% on the day while all the base metals with the exception of iron ore rallied strongly. This combined with a weak pound and a strong recovery form oversold accounts for the storm back in Mining