Overview: the FTSE 100 is set to continue its climb today as financial bookmakers project the blue chip index to gain a further 0.2% following yesterday’s rally, which saw the Footsie tack on nearly 2% after the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said its National Activity index rose to minus 0.32 in November from minus 1.02 in October to add to the recovery sentiment and prop up the stocks in the US, Europe and Asia.
All of the main US stock market indexes posted good gains yesterday following the Chicago Fed update. Aluminium producer Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and chip market Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) further strengthened the markets, rallying after getting upgraded to “overweight” by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Barclays (LSE: BARC) respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.8%, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 1% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite added 1.2% to hit 15 month highs.
Asian markets were mixed as while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1% and China’s Shanghai composite index tumbled 2.3%, South Korea’s KOSPI rose marginally, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.6% and Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 1.9% to hit three month highs.
Commodities
Oil prices were slightly lower today as February Brent Crude slid to US$73.10/barrel, while US light, sweet crude retreated to US$73.92/barrel.
Precious metals slid further as gold dropped below US$1,100/oz, while silver and platinum declined to US$17.02/oz and US$1,415/oz, respectively.
Base metals also were in decline. Copper and nickel retreated to US$3.11/lb and US$8.03/lb respectively, while zinc was down to US$1.07/lb.
The markets will be waiting for the final readings of Q3 GDP in the UK and the US today with both due to come out today.
Oil and gas company Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) emerged atop the leaderboard yesterday with a 4.7% gain, while insurers Prudential (LSE: PRU) and Aviva (LSE: AV) followed with gains of 4.5% and 4.1% respectively. Other notable risers included heating and plumbing equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), investor Resolution and banks Barclays (LSE: BARC), HSBC (LSE: HSBA) and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) with gains of over 3%. Miner Xstrata (LSE: XTA) also added over 3%.
Just four FTSE 100 constituents were in the red yesterday. London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSE) was at the bottom of the pile with a 1.6% decline, while portable power supplier Aggreko (LSE: AGK) was down 1.4%. Software developer Sage Group (LSE: SGE) and part-nationalised bank RBS (LSE: RBS) declined marginally.