Bank of England Cuts Interest Rate to 0.25% in Emergency Move to Combat Coronavirus Pandemic

Global Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 132.86 points or 4.61% lower at 2,749.37, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index contracted by 1,292.28 points or 5.17% lower at 23,725.88, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 7,977.58, down by 366.67 points or 4.39% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 1:45 PM ET).

 Global News: On 11^th March 2020, all US major indices were significantly down by more than 3 per cent on signs the novel coronavirus is gathering pace in the US. The World Health Organisation has declared coronavirus as global pandemic with infections topping 120,000. Among the stocks, Fiat Chrysler shares were down by 3 per cent, on account of closing four plants in Milan after coronavirus fears were sparked. Uber stock was down by 4.0 per cent, as the company announced that they will suspend drivers who tested positive for coronavirus. Tesla shares were down by 3.1 per cent, as the investors were not happy with a statement that the company is trying to find new locations in Central US to produce its electric trucks. PepsiCo shares were down by 2.6 per cent, on the back of the announcement of an acquisition. Airlines shares were massively beaten up with United Airlines and American Airlines shares were significantly down by around 7 per cent as travel demand was impacted deeply, forcing airlines to cut travel routes.Â

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*:Â DXC Technology Co, Gilead Sciences Inc, and Willis Towers Watson Plc traded in green zone and were up by 5.66%, 3.55% and 0.78% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Noble Energy Inc, Apache Corp, and Occidental Petroleum Corp decreased by 14.15%, 13.72% and 10.95% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: BIO-Key International Inc, Tiziana Life Sciences Plc, and Co-Diagnostics Inc surged by 195.92%, 173.66% and 62.84% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Sophiris Bio Inc, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Avid Bioservices Inc decreased by 49.92%, 35.39% and 28.21% respectively.

Worst Performing Sectors*: Energy (down 6.47%), Financials (down 3.43%) and Basic Materials (down 3.35%).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: UnitedHealth Group Inc (up 0.28%).

Worst Performers*: Boeing Co, Dow Inc, and Nike Inc decreased by 10.28%, 6.88% and 5.47% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 closed Wednesday’s session at 83.71 points or 1.40% lower at 5,876.52, the FTSE 250 index plunged by 207.82 points or 1.18% lower at 17,339.23, and the FTSE All-Share Index traded last 45.91 points or 1.38% lower at 3,287.07 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended down by 2.47 points or 0.74 per cent, at 333.17.

European News: In economic news, the Bank of England today finally decided to cut its interest rates by 50 basis points in view of the mounting threat of the British economy from the coronavirus epidemic scare. The British central bank cut its rates from 0.75 per cent to 0.25 per cent after its monetary policy committee in an unscheduled meeting voted unanimously in favour of a rate cut to tackle this latest threat to the country. The move of the bank holds significance as it comes hours before chancellor Rishi Sunak is to present this year’s budget in the British parliament, which is expected to roll out significant policy measures to encourage growth in the British economy.

London Stock Exchange (LSE)

Top Performers*: BALFOUR BEATTY PLC (BBY), INTU PROPERTIES PLC (INTU) and PETRA DIAMONDS (PDL) are top performers of the day and up by 13.41%, 12.00% and 10.36% respectively.

Worst Performers*: LOOKERS PLC (LOOK), COSTAIN GROUP PLC (COST) and DIGNITY PLC (DTY) dipped by 33.15%, 30.94% and 23.40% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

FTSE 100 Index Chart: 5-days Price Performance (as on March-11-2020), before the market closed. (Source: Thomson Reuters)

Performers*: BT GROUP PLC (BT.A), OCADO GROUP PLC (OCDO) and HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS PLC  (HIK) are the top three gainers in today’s session and up by 3.45%, 2.00% and 1.81% respectively.

Laggards*: AVEVA GROUP PLC (AVV), EASYJET PLC (EZJ), and INFORMA PLC (INF) contracted by 7.22%, 6.23% and 4.62% respectively.

Active by Volume*: LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC (LLOY), BARCLAYS PLC (BARC), and VODAFONE GROUP PLC (VOD).

Top Performing Sectors*: Healthcare (+1.07%), Consumer Non-Cyclicals (+0.13%) and Financials (+0.01%).

Worst Performing Sectors*: Consumer Cyclicals (-2.15%), Technology (-2.01%) and Industrials (-1.77%).

Currency Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.2844 and 0.8785, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was hovering at 0.779 %, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.269 %, respectively.

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*At the time of writing