Key Points
- FTSE 100 closing price of 7018.4, +0.5%
- Flutter jumps after NFL deal
- Bitcoin falls after Turkish crypto ban
- Dogecoin shrugs off concerns as price more than doubles
- GBP higher as cases, deaths continue to fall
By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – The FTSE 100 closed above 7,000 for the first time since the onset of the pandemic as banking names pushed higher following a stellar week of earnings from their US counterparts. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have all reported blockbuster results and there are hopes that UK banks such as Barclays (LON:BARC), NatWest (LON:NWG) and Lloyds (LON:LLOY) will follow suit.
Flutter Entertainment (LON:FLTRF) shares gained after the company’s US-based FanDuel unit was announced as an official betting partner of the NFL. DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) were also named as partners and shares jumped in trading in New York.
On the downside, Ashmore (LON:ASHM) shares declined after the company said assets under management fell by $3.1bln in the quarter to March.
Bitcoin prices fell after the Turkish Central Bank announced a ban on using cryptocurrencies as payments for goods and services. Nevertheless, the rally this week means the price still holds comfortably above $60,000.
The meme-coin Dogecoin has continued its recent rally and is up over 400% since Monday, trading at a record high above $0.37. The cryptocurrency has now become the 5th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of around $48bln.
In more traditional markets, GBP was higher after GBP/USD had initially slid towards 1.3700 in early trade. The delays in supply of some vaccines are having an impact on vaccination rates in the UK but the strict lockdowns and early vaccinations are having an impact as the daily growth rate of positive cases was estimated between -6% and -1% from between -4% and 0% last week. EUR/USD has again failed to breach the 1.2000 handle, hitting a high of 1.1994.
WTI and Brent crude futures both retreated amid touted profit taking after having a solid week. For the week, WTI is up over 6% after the weekly inventory date showed a larger than expected drawdown in US inventories.
Looking ahead
Next week sees some key data releases from the UK. Releases from the Office for National Statistics include labour market data on Tuesday, inflation readings on Wednesday and retail sales on Friday. Furthermore, IHS Markit releases its flash PMI readings on Friday.
“Annual CPI inflation is forecast to increase to 0.7% in March from 0.4% in February, led by fuel prices, with energy prices set to boost inflation further in April,” said Lloyds Bank analysts in a research note. “We also predict a rise of 1.2% for retail sales in March on the back of the 2.1% increase in February.”
Central bank decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada will also be in focus. Meanwhile the strength of the US housing market will be become clearer as the US releases existing home sales and new home sales data.