Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 falls 39 points to 8,259
- Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) suffers largest ever single-day market value loss overnight
- Direct Line (LON:DLGD) and Barratt report mixed results
US homeowners eying rate cuts
Data on US mortgages indicates the expected rate cuts from the Fed in two weeks and in coming months are driving demand for mortgages among US homeowners, with lenders trimming rates on offer for home loans in recent weeks as their peers in the UK have been doing.
Mortgage applications climbed 3% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association says, though were still down 4% on a year ago.
Refinancing applications fell 0.3% for the week but were up 94% year on year.
MBA economist Joel Kan says: "Refinance applications were slightly down but continued to show strong annual gains as borrowers with higher rates have been refinancing to lower their monthly payments."
He says the share of refinancing applications averaged almost 46% in August, "the highest monthly average since March 2022".
US sell-off set to deepen
Looks like the sell-off/correction in the US is going to continue for another day, with futures markets pointing to more losses.
S&P 500 futures are down 0.4% and those for the Nasdaq 100 are down 0.7%, while Dow Jones futures are down 0.2%.
Chip giants Nvidia and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) are down almost 2% premarket, while ASML (AS:ASML) is down over 5% in Amsterdam and will also weigh. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms are all down over 0.9% premarket, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 0.8% lower.
Later today the US JOLTS jobs openings report will be in focus (see below), for what it might tell us about the non-farm payrolls coming on Friday.
Further north, the Bank of Canada policy decision is widely expected to see rate cut for a third consecutive meeting.
Slowing inflation and rising unemployment are pressing the central bank to get policy to a more neutral level quickly, analysts say.
Amazon workers get pay rise
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) has announced operational staff in the UK will be granted a 10% pay rise following a dispute which has seen workers repeatedly walk out in recent years.
Employees such as delivery drivers and those in fulfilment centres will receive between £13.50 and £14.50 an hour from September 29, the company said, increasing by an extra 25p an hour for those who have been at Amazon for over 36 months.
GMB organiser Rachel Fagan argued the rise was “too little, too late,” however.
“Amazon’s reputation is in the gutter over its treatment of its own workers, and now company bosses are trying to plaster over the facts,” she commented.
“Unsafe working conditions, low pay and excessive surveillance blight the lives of Amazon workers every single day.”
Banks' fraud exposure to be lower despite new high for scams
Banks are set to see requirements over payments to fraud victims slashed under new UK rules as separate data on Wednesday showed scams had hit a six-year high.
Britain’s Payment Systems Regulator suggested last year banks would have to refund fraud victims up to £415,000 under a new regime due to come into force in October.
However, this limit is now expected to be slashed to £85,000, according to the Financial Times, following lobbying from the industry.
This comes as data from the Financial Ombudsman Service on Wednesday showed disputes in the UK over fraud and scams had hit a six-year high... Read more
FTSE losses pared
The FTSE's losses have been pared a bit, now back to 51 points or 0.6%.
A recovery in oil prices has helped lessen the impact from heavyweights Shell and BP (LON:BP).
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR) is also top of the risers, up 1.2% after news that Cathay Pacific expects to return all the Rolls-powered Airbus A350s to service by Saturday, after making fuel line repairs.