Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 falls 22 points to 8240
- US job openings sink
- Precious metals hit by wider commodity selloff
US job openings sink
US job openings sank to below a three-year low, providing more weight to the idea that the economy is cooling.
Job postings fell to 8.1 million in April, the lowest since February 2021, from 8.4 million in March, Labor Department data showed.
New openings are higher than before the pandemic, but down from the Covid peaks in 2022.
Numbers of people quitting jobs rose to 3.5 million from a three-year low of 3.4 million.
Wall Street starts down but losses quickly trimmed
US stock markets started in a sea of red, but the Dow Jones has just climbed above the waterline and the S&P 500 is just below it.
The Dow is up 50 points or 0.13%, while the S&P 500 is down less than four points or 0.1%.
With Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the red, the Nasdaq Composite is down 0.17%.
Precious metals hit by wider commodity selloff
Selling pressure have hit key commodity prices such as crude oil and copper in recent days due to consistently weak manufacturing data from around the world, says market analyst Fawad Razaqzada at City Index.
While demand concerns are hitting these crucial commodities, the bruised sentiment is also knocking gold and silver prices, which have added to their modest losses the week before.
"This morning’s losses coincided with the dollar index bouncing off the 104.00 support level ahead of a busy week for macro data and central bank action," says Razaqzada, but he sees support for silver.
Without significant new bullish catalysts, metals traders have been content to take profits after a strong year in the sector, he adds, but "the overall outlook remains positive".
"After some consolidation, I expect the bull trend to continue, especially as silver tests liquidity just below the technically significant $30 level," he says, based on his reading of silver charts, with silver dipping below $30 an ounce early this morning before being carried back towards this "key psychological and technical level".
"It's crucial to watch silver's behaviour here. A daily close above $30 will please the bulls and sustain the bullish trend seen this year, while a close below $30 could trigger some further short-term weakness before the rally potentially resumes."
Who's next to IPO in London?
Raspberry Pi, the technology group, is set to float in London next week, and after a difficult few years where London IPOs have all but dried up, investors are keen to get their teeth into some new meat.
Expected and potential new arrivals range from Shein, where reports are growing louder, to Monzo and Revolut, where CEOs have given some hints in recent weeks...read more.
Also there's news that California-based medical technology tiddler Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc (AOTI) is planning to list on the AIM market in two weeks.
The company says it has developed a therapy to reduce hospitalisations and amputations caused by non-healing wounds, particularly diabetic foot ulcers.
With Peel Hunt (LON:PEEL) broker and nominated adviser, AOTI is seeking to raise US$25 million according to some reports and £40 million according to others.
FTSE paring losses
The FTSE 100 is off its worst levels of the day, down just under 24 points, or a 0.29% drop, having been down 61 points or 0.74% mid-morning.
Shell (LON:SHEL) and BP (LON:BP) are both still big weights around the index's neck, along with miners Glencore (LON:GLEN) (down 2.7%) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) (1.8%) in the top 10.
Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) is also down 1.4% despite reports that the engine maker might be set for a boost from a major Airbus A330 jet aircraft order from China.
Some of the Footsie's largest stocks are firmly higher, with Unilever (LON:ULVR) up 1.7%. GSK (LON:GSK) rebounding 1.6% from yesterday's big drop, while RELX and the LSEG are also up over 1%.
The biggest riser on the blue-chips are the National Grid (LON:NG) nil paids, up over 11% to 222.4p, up over 56% since last week (when some said the market's reaction was too harsh).
Citi has today also weighed in with an upgrade to ‘buy’ and lifted the utility firm’s price target to more than a 9% premium to its current market value, while analysts at Jefferies issued a slightly more cautious note...(You can also read our guide on what investors can do about the rights issue.)
Other risers include GKN (LON:GKN) Aerospace owner Melrose , water company Severn Trent (LON:SVT) and retailers M&S and Next.