September has seen stock markets start on the front foot.
UK stocks were higher in early trading on Thursday. A slide in the FTSE 100 since the middle of August has stalled after the index gave back half its gains since the Bank of England eased monetary policy.
Gains on the FTSE 100 were led by financial shares as well as the basic resource sector. Miners including Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Glencore (LON:GLEN), which are sensitive to changes in Chinese commodity demand rose after well-received China manufacturing data.
Shares of Hays dipped over 4% on Thursday, falling to the bottom of the FTSE 250. A pause in hiring plans in the UK and Ireland, which makes up a third of Hays’ business, in lead up to the EU referendum vote has weighed on results. Despite some signs of Brexit uncertainty, UK hiring was flat over the year and could easily pick up alongside the various economic confidence indicators in the months after the vote.
Spanish stockmarkets were unrattled after Prime Minister Rajoy lost a confidence vote on Wednesday. The Spanish IBEX 35 was up over half-a-percent by mid-morning. Investors clearly don’t see the impasse in Madrid as a reason not to invest in Spain’s top companies.
US stocks look set for a higher open. The first trading day of September and a symbolic end to quiet summer trading has seen money coming back into the market. ISM manufacturing data will be another important data point before the Federal Reserve makes its decision on interest rates later this month.
The debate over the Apple’s tax bill in Ireland is raging on. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook called the €13bn “total political crap” and pointed to what many believe to be the real political motivation behind the European Commission’s decision: "I think it’s clear that there is a desire to harmonise tax rates across the EU."
Shares of Saleforce are expected to fall over 5% on the open after the cloud computing software firm offered third quarter guidance below Wall Street estimates.
USA pre-opening levels
S&P 500: 6 points higher at 2,176
Dow Jones: 57 points higher at 18,457
Nasdaq 100: 18 points higher at 4,789
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