GGood morning. The FTSE 100 is expected to open flat before gains rise after Asian stocks reversed their losses overnight to push higher. The main London index, however, will stay in line with the rest of Europe after shutting off previous losses yesterday on optimism about easing travel restrictions. And that’s despite a huge day of profit from lenders like Credit Suisse, AstraZeneca and the AB Inbev brewery.
Today traders will digest the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep bond purchases at their current rate of $ 120 billion a month, arguing that the U.S. economy still has a way to go before stimulus measures can end.
Investors also expect weekly US jobless claims to fall to around 385,000 after the surprise surge from the previous week. Before that, the Bank of England will be releasing mortgage approvals and consumer credit data for June, with both accelerating.
Robinhood, the trading app popular with Reddit investors, will be launched publicly in the US later this day.
5 things to get the day off to a good start
1) Companies should give two out of five board seats to women: The Financial Conduct Authority can be accused with hypocrisy for failing to meet some of the benchmarks it requires of companies themselves.
2) Second shareholder speaks out against Morrisons takeover: Private equity contender Fortress in talks with rival Apollo to bolster consortium to buy supermarket
3) Google urges employees to get vaccinated before returning to the office: Chief Sundar Pichai said in an email that vaccination against Covid will be mandatory for employees who arrive to work in the US within weeks.
4) UK advertising recovery is set to outperform Europe: Ad spend is expected to recover from the pandemic-induced crash, with a record 18 percent growth this year to £ 27.7 billion.
5) Staycation boom to make the UK stronger than Europe: According to the Resolution Foundation, domestic tourism will support the hospitality industry this summer, while Spain and Greece will suffer.
What happened overnight
Asian stocks created a semblance of calm on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve signaled it was in no rush to cut stimulus packages, although sentiment was fragile as investors waited to see if Beijing could stem the recent bloodletting in Chinese stocks .
There was also some promising news on the long-awaited U.S. infrastructure bill when the Senate voted to push the $ 1.2 trillion deal forward.
Still, much depended on how China’s markets performed, amid reports the regulators called banks overnight to allay market fears about stricter rules in the education sector.
Gains were tentative, with blue-chip stocks up 1.4 percent but still more than 5 percent for the week, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.1 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan rose 1.1 percent after falling to its lowest level since early December on Wednesday. The Japanese Nikkei gained 0.4 percent while South Korea remained flat.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.2 percent, as was EUROSTOXX 50 futures. Nasdaq futures were down 0.3 percent, possibly hurt by a drop in Facebook stock.
Comes today
- company: Diageo (Full year); AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Drax, Inchcape, Lloyds Banking Group, National Express, RELX, Rentokil Initial, Royal Dutch Shell, Schroders, Segro, Smith & Nephew, Weir, Informa, Anglo American, Spectris, Indivior (Provisionally)
- Business: Nationwide real estate prices, consumer loans, mortgage approvals (UNITED KINGDOM), Business indicator (ME), Unemployment Claims, GDP (US)