By Samuel Indyk
Key Points
- FTSE 100 begins week on back foot as miners and oil & gas companies weigh
- More European countries stop rollout of AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) (NASDAQ:AZN) vaccine
- GBP weak ahead of Bank of England, Fed rate decisions
- Bitcoin retreats from all-time high amid reported India cryptocurrency ban
Investing.com – The FTSE 100 finished lower on Monday after opening with small gains ahead of a busy week of central bank events. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announces their interest rate decision, Thursday sees the Bank of England and Friday is the Bank of Japan.
Miners and oil & gas companies were weak as commodity prices were generally softer. WTI and Brent crude futures both fell by over $1/barrel while copper was down 0.3%, although still remained higher than $4/lb.
Betting group Flutter Entertainment PLC (LON:FLTRF) saw its shares jump to the top of the FTSE 100 after the company confirmed media reports that it was considering a spin-off of FanDuel in the United States.
“Options including the listing in the US of a small shareholding in FanDuel are being considered but no decision has been made at this time," Flutter Entertainment said in a statement.
FTSE 250 listed Provident Financial (LON:PFG) saw its shares decline over 25% after the company announced the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority was investigating its Consumer Credit Division. The company also gave details on a £50mln plan to settle an increase in customer complaints and claims against its home credit business last year, warning that the unit could collapse if the scheme is not approved.
The AstraZeneca vaccine rollout in Europe continues to face interruptions with Italy, Germany and France all confirming that they are to suspend giving the jab amid reports of thrombogenic events in patients that have taken the vaccine. AstraZeneca continues to say that there is no evidence of an increased risk of clotting from taking the vaccine and the World Health Organization has said there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and reports of blood clots. The European Medicines Agency is set to give an assessment on the vaccine on Tuesday.
Currencies and Bonds
GBP was weaker with GBP/USD dropping below 1.3900 ahead of the key central bank meetings this week. The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Monday that he was more positive but with a large dose of caution about the UK’s economic recovery. Bailey also added that the central bank was not out of policy tools and could introduce more if needed.
Yields in the UK and US pulled back somewhat after hitting multi-month highs late last week. UK gilts had been underperforming with Bailey’s comments weighing ahead of the Bank of England interest rate decision.
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin broke above $60,000 over the weekend and hit a record high above $61,700 but has since retreated after reports that India was to announce a complete ban on cryptocurrencies. The wide-ranging bill would reportedly criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trading, and transferring cryptocurrencies. This would be a much more stringent law than the Chinese ban which currently only bans mining and trading cryptocurrencies.