Friday 13th June 2008
FTSE’s Four Day Losing Streak Broken.
Strong US retail figures released yesterday provided some welcome news for the markets; suggesting that the US might possibly avoid slipping into recession. The reported 1% increase in May’s US retail figures strengthened the dollar and forced US government bonds to fall on the increased likelihood that the Fed will raise interest rates in the foreseeable future.
The ECB moved to dampen market expectations of a flurry of interest rate rises in the coming months by signalling that the planned increase in July is likely to be a one off. This lead to a fall in European Bonds. Yesterday’s release of Eurozone’s industrial production figures showed a 0.9% increase in April which should provide a further boost for the European economy.
This better than expected data release had a positive impact on world markets with the FTSE rising to 5790.5, having lost 4.5% in the previous 4 days. The FTSE is expected to have another good day, with the market set to react positively to RBS’s expected sale of Angel Trains to Babcock & Brown. US markets were up, with news that Lehman Brothers will remove their CFO and COO (Erin Callan and Joseph Gregory) following their $2.8bn second-quarter loss.
Moving on to currency markets, consumer confidence, justified by yesterday’s rise in US retail sales figures has helped the dollar hit a 3 month high against a basket of currencies, against the Euro it peaked at 1.5422 and gained ground against sterling to 1.9473.
As part of our on-going commitment to excellent service we have partnered
with Plebble to monitor our services and would be grateful if our customers could rate us.
The above feed is provided by FT.com. Capital IFX accepts no responsibility for its content.
