Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 up 29 points at 7,653
- Ofwat orders water firms to return £114 million
- Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) up, ban fears overdone, says broker
Wll Street in downbeat mood as trading starts
Stocks have opened lower in the US and Treasury yields hit fresh highs as investors continue to adjust the likelihood of interest rates staying higher, for longer.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 147.74 points, 0.4%, at 33,859.14, the S&P 500 was down 27.60 points, 0.6%, at 4,309.84 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 94.52 points, 0.7%, at 13,176.80.
Investors are also grappling with negotiations in Washington, as lawmakers hope to avert a government shutdown that could take place as early as October 1 if Congress doesn’t agree on a spending bill.
"[R]isky assets, particularly long-duration stocks, have struggled to absorb these rate increases...the correlation between equity prices and bond yields has turned negative again, reflecting the 'good news is bad news' sentiment in the U.S.," SPI Asset Management said.
Since the Federal reserve's decision to leave interesr rates unchanged last Wednesday a series of Fed officials have reinforced the message that they will keep policy tighter for longer if the economy is stronger than expected.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said he expects the US central bank will need to raise interest rates one more time this year.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned interest rates may need to rise further to tamp down inflation,
Dimon said in an interview with The Times of India that the Fed’s key borrowing rate could rise significantly from its current targeted range of 5.25%-5.5%.
RyanAir calls on air traffic control boss to step down
Budget airline Ryanair (LON:0RYA) has waded in over the flights cancellations at Gatwick this week, due to air traffic control staff shortages.
Ryanair is calling on the Civil Aviation Authority to immediately intervene and protect passengers from further disruptions to flights to and from Gatwick over the next week.
The airline says it is unacceptable that Nats (which runs UK Air Traffic Services) is not adequately staffed, and wants its CEO, Martin Rolfe, to either fix UK staff shortages or immediately resign.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: "It is unacceptable that airlines have been asked to cancel flights to/from Gatwick Airport for the next six days (until 2 Oct) as a result of NATS’s failure to adequately staff UK ATC."
"NATS has been a shambles for years," it continued, adding Martin Rolfe should now do the right thing and "step down."
Market Movers
A look at some of today's biggest movers
Risers
Supreme PLC (LON:SUP) jumped 6% to 105p as the vaping specialist told shareholders it had enjoyed the best start to a year ever in spite of growing calls for the ban of both single-use and flavoured vapes.
Symphony Environmental Technologies PLC (LON:SYMU) lifted as much as 7% before falling back to a 2% rise after Yemen announced a ban on non-biodegrable plastic bags.
Fallers
Tinybuild Inc (LON:TBLD), the indie game publisher, lost over a third of its value on Tuesday after it said it expects to struggle to achieve profitability for the rest of the financial year, having suffered huge pre-tax losses in the first half.
Videndum PLC (LON:VIDV) shares slumped 37% after the company was hit by news of more industrial action in Hollywood just as it announced the writers' strike had wrecked its first-half numbers.