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HSBC, BHP Push FTSE Towards 7200

Published 19/02/2019, 08:49
Updated 21/10/2020, 09:15

Following on from Monday’s bland trading, Tuesday got off to a slow start – though, unlike yesterday, a smattering of intriguing European data and the return of the US should at least bring something new to the table.

Dipping another 0.2%, and drifting back towards 7200 in the process, the FTSE was kept down, in part at least, by a pair of poorly received updates from a couple of its big boys.

HSBC (LON:HSBA) fell nearly 3.5% as it missed revenue and pre-tax profit estimates, the bank finding itself stuck in the middle of a Venn diagram covering China’s slowing economy, the concerns surrounding global trade, and Britain’s Brexit mess.

BHP Group (LON:BHPB), meanwhile, slipped 1%, a relatively mild decline given that its first half pre-tax profit plunged 8% due to issues in its copper division.

Sterling sits on its hands ahead of jobs report

Sterling sat on its hands, the currency unchanged against both the dollar and the euro. That should change before lunchtime, however, once it has a gander at the latest UK jobs report. The unemployment rate is set to hold at 4.0%, while the claimant count change is expected to drop from 20.8k to 12.3k. Most importantly, the average earnings index – including bonuses – is forecast to climb from 3.4% to 3.5%, a huge boost to real wages given that inflation has been going in the other direction for the last few months.

The DAX was one of the perkier performers on Tuesday, rising 0.4% to return to 11330. The index could get a helping hand from the morning’s German ZEW economic sentiment reading, which is expected to nudge up from -15.0 to a better, if hardly reassuring, -14.1. The region wide figure, meanwhile, is set to move from -20.9 to -18.2.

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