Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 down 17 points to 8,267
- House prices higher
- Bellway (LON:BWY) predicts trading impact from election
The morning so far
Despite futures contracts espousing pre-market confidence, the FTSE 100 took a bearish turn in the opening hour of Friday’s trading session.
The blue-chip index is currently down 17 points to 8,267.
There are few company stories to move the dial, barring a fairly optimistic trading update from FTSE 250-listed housebuilder Bellway PLC (LSE:BWY).
Matching prior guidance, Bellway said it is on track to deliver around 7,500 homes this year with an average selling price of around £305,000, up from the previous guidance of £295,000.
Bellway shares were up 1.7%, making it a stronger mover than any of the FTSE 100 set.
Top FTSE 100 movers for the morning include ConvaTec Group PLC (LON:CTEC), Entail plc, Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB) and National Grid PLC (LON:NG).
On the housing note, the Halifax House Price Index rose 1.5% year over year in May, up from 1.1% in April and exceeding the 1.2% gain expected by analysts.
It marks the sixth consecutive rise in the index for six months. The average UK house price now stands at £288,688.
Month-on-month statistics were less bullish though, having decreased 0.1%, effectively stripping away the 0.1% gain in April.
Elsewhere in the news cycle, British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was cleared of fraud charges in the US related to the $11 billion sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
He faced over 20 years in prison if convicted.
Bitcoin recovers
Bitcoin (BTC) is up around half a percentage point today, thus fully recouping yesterday’s losses.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency is currently swapping for $71,163 (£55,622), as the bulls continue reaching for the $73,800 all-time high achieved in March.
On a week-on-week basis, the BTC/USD pair is up more than 4%, buoyed by solid inflows into the exchange-traded fund market.
Back to stocks, the FTSE 100 blue-chip index has taken a 17-point dive to 8,267.
FTSE 100 sheds a few
The blue-chip index dipped seven points in opening exchanges, despite pre-market expectations of an incremental gain.
Few blue chips are managing to move the needle, with Entain (LON:ENT), British Airways (LON:ICAG) owner IAG, Barratt and DS Smith among the top movers, all adding less than 2%.
8.19am: Germany’s industrial production disappoints
On the continent, German industrial production disappointed again in April by dropping another 0.1% month on month after falling 0.4% in March.
Industrial production was down by 3.9% on a yearly basis, driven by intermediate goods (which are used in the production of final goods) and a weak construction sector.
Meanwhile, output rose for capital goods and consumer goods by 0.8% each, while the automotive industry grew by 4.2%.
“Germany’s well-known structural weaknesses will not disappear overnight and will limit the pace of any rebound,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING.
“Looking ahead, the German economy should still gain more momentum,” Brzeski added.
“Strong wage growth should fuel a cautious recovery in private consumption, and even the inventory cycle should gradually start to turn positive.
“However, this turning of the inventory cycle has not yet happened. In fact, yesterday’s drop in new orders as well as still high inventories show that any rebound in industrial activity will remain muted.”