Europe
European stock markets are set to finish the day on a positive note as the feel good factor from yesterday’s rally continues. The FTSE 100, has hit its highest level since early October and it has been a broad based rally as financial, energy, consumer and mining stocks are all higher.
Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) shares are in demand after the company said it expects net full-year net profit to be at the upper end of its guidance – which is between €270 million and €300 million. The group confirmed that fourth-quarter trading was in line with expectations, and it declared that it had an ‘excellent operational performance’ in March. The stock rebounded from the sell-off yesterday, and if it retakes the 200-day moving average at 3,069p, it might retest the 3,400p area.
Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) shares are in the red after Singapore Airlines grounded two Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787-10s aircrafts on account of problems with the Rolls Royce engine. The Trent 1000 TEN engine was found to have premature deterioration, and that prompted Singapore Airlines to stop using the aircrafts. Safety is paramount in the airline industry, especially in light of the Ethiopian airlines disaster.
Superdry (LON:SDRY) founder Julian Dunkerton received 51.1% shareholder approval to be voted back onto the board of directors. Mr Dunkerton left the fashion house last year, and now he is keen to get back involved in the company as he feels the current management are to blame for the recent poor performance. The return of Mr Dunkerton might spark board member resignations, and that has rocked investor sentiment.
US
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 have both barely moved today as investors have taken a breather from the solid performance yesterday. Durable goods sales declined by 1.6% in February, and the consensus estimate was for a drop of 1.8%, and the January report was revised down from 0.3% to 0.1%.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) shares sold-off sharply after the company posted disappointing figures. Second-quarter adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.64, which undershot the $1.72 forecast. Revenue for the period was $34.53 billion, which was essentially in line with forecasts. Same-store-sales fell by 3.8%. To make matter worse, the company now anticipates is now predicting full-year earnings to be flat ,while the previous guidance was for growth of between 7% to 12%. CVS shares have sold-off too.
Boeing stated that it will submit its software upgrade for the 737 Max in the ‘coming weeks’ and will be better than initially thought. The company is under scrutiny in light of the recent disaster, and it seems the firm is taking the extra time to rectify the issues it is incurring.
FX
GBP/USD is in the red today as traders are fearful of the political situation in the UK. Last might, MPs voted against four proposals which could have potentially broken the Brexit deadlock, and now the situation still stands that the UK is set to leave the EU without a deal in 10 days, unless something is agreed upon between and then. UK construction PMI came in at 49.7m which was a slight improvement on the 49.5 that was recorded in February.
EUR/USD is a little lower today as the move higher in the greenback has dented the euro. Eurozone PPI rate came in at 3%, undershooting the forecast of 3.1%, and the previous reading was revised from 3% to 2.9%. The steadying of the PPI rate might lead to the simmering of the CPI rate.
Commodities
Gold hasn’t moved much today and this is the third day in a row that it experienced low volatility. The commodity has been broadly in an upward trend since November, and if it holds above the $1,276 region, the wider trend should continue.
Oil has nudged up as traders are worried about the prospect of further sanctions against Iran as well as the possibility of declining output from Venezuela as a major oil terminal is out of commission.
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