British Shares Closed Higher with Focus on Upcoming Corporate Earnings; FTSE 100 up 1.33%

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in green - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 41.53 points or 1.30 per cent higher at 3,226.57, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index expanded by 404.66 points or 1.55 per cent higher at 26,479.96, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded higher at 10,802.19, up by 184.75 points or 1.74 per cent against the previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 11:50 AM ET).

US Market News: The Wall Street opened in green due to strong investor sentiments due to the optimism over development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, the US central bank has increased the balance sheet to USD 6.9 trillion from USD 4.2 trillion in February this year to pump liquidity in the market. Among the gaining stocks, Maxim Integrated was up by close to 12.9 percent after the announcement that Analog Devices would acquire the company in an all-stock deal. Apple was up by about 3.4 percent after it announced that it would spend USD 400 million for the housing projects in California. Similarly, Pepsi inched up by about 1.18 percent after the company reported better quarterly revenue and earnings than the street consensus. Among the decliners, Analog Devices was down by close to 3.3 percent as the company announced that it would acquire Maxim Integrated for approximately USD 21 billion. United Airline’s shares were down by 3.3 percent after news of slow recovery in the air travel. AMC Entertainment was down by 1.3 percent after the company announced that it had agreed with bondholders to reduce the debt by up to USD 630 million.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Maxim Integrated Products Inc (MXIM), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX), and CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF) stocks jumped by 11.30 per cent, 5.94 per cent and 5.65 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: Analog Devices Inc (ADI), Diamondback Energy Inc (FANG) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) shares decreased by 3.94 per cent, 3.80 per cent and 3.61 per cent, respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Elite Performers*: electroCore Inc (ECOR), Equillium Inc (EQ) and Airnet Technology Inc (ANTE) shares traded in the green zone and expanded by 190.59 per cent, 159.25 per cent and 71.95 per cent, respectively.

Worst Performers*: Celsion Corp (CLSN), NextCure Inc (NXTC) and Gritstone Oncology Inc (GRTS) shares contracted by 64.53 per cent, 40.55 per cent and 39.00 per cent, respectively.

Top Performing Sectors*: Consumer Cyclicals (+1.92 per cent), Technology (+1.10 per cent) and Healthcare (+1.06 per cent).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Best Performers*: Pfizer Inc (PFE), Apple Inc (AAPL) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH) shares were in bright spot and surged by around 4.45 per cent, 3.53 per cent and 2.06 per cent, respectively.

Worst Performers*: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA), Boeing Co (BA) and Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX) shares plunged by 1.07 per cent, 0.98 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index: FTSE 100 traded last at 80.78 points or 1.33 per cent higher at 6,176.19; the FTSE 250 index closed at 205.12 points or 1.19 per cent higher at 17,385.09, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 43.44 points or 1.29 per cent higher at 3,423.06, respectively. Also, European index STOXX 600 ended higher by 3.67 points or 1.00 per cent, at 370.50. Among other major European indices, DAX index closed the session at 12,799.97, up by 166.26 points or 1.32 per cent; CAC 40 index increased by 85.75 points or 1.73 per cent and ended the trading session at 5,056.23.

European News: London and European markets surged with stimulus led to economic revival. Meanwhile, the British government launched a campaign, “The UK’s new start, let’s get going.” For urging individuals and businesses to prepare for Brexit transition period. Among the gaining stocks, Quiz was up by 3.4 percent after the company reported that it has suspended a deal with one of the vendors after news that it paid its employees below minimum wage. Diageo shares were up by close to 1.2 percent after the company announced that it would sell Johnnie Walker whiskey in plastic-free bottles from early next year. AB Foods was trading up by about 0.7 percent after the company announced that it would not seek government aid to bring back its employees from furlough. Among the decliners, National Grid shed around 0.6 percent after the company announced that it started construction on Viking link; a renewable energy power cable project between the UK and Denmark. Similarly, Tesco was down by nearly 0.3 percent after the company said that customers have limits to buy six products from the stores.

London Stock Exchange

Top Three Performers*: ALFA FINANCIAL SOFTWARE HOLDINGS (ALFA), LUCECO PLC (LUCE) and RESTAURANT GROUP PLC (RTN) accelerated significantly by 14.42 per cent, 11.57 per cent and 8.51 per cent, respectively.

Worst Performers*: PHOTO-ME INTERNATIONAL PLC (PHTN), FUNDING CIRCLE HOLDINGS PLC (FCH) and SUPERDRY PLC (SDRY) plunged by 9.75 per cent, 8.83 per cent and 8.12 per cent, respectively.

FTSE 100 Index Performance

3 months FTSE 100 Index Performance (July-13-2020), before the market close (Source: EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)

Best Gainers*: FRESNILLO PLC (LON:FRES), AVAST PLC (LON:AVST) & SCOTTISH MORTGAGE INVESTMENT (LON:SMT) leapt up by 5.15 per cent, 4.86 per cent and 4.34 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: JD SPORTS FASHION PLC (LON: JD.), TAYLOR WIMPEY PLC (LON: TW.) and INFORMA PLC (LON:INF) traded in the red zone and decreased by 1.48 per cent, 1.45 per cent and 1.36 per cent, respectively.

Stocks traded with good volume*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (VOD) VODAFONE PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC.

Top Sectors traded in the positive zone*: Basic Materials (+2.67 per cent), Technology (+1.76 per cent), and Energy (+1.72 per cent).

Top Sector traded in the negative zone*: Utilities (-0.28 per cent).

Crude Oil Future Prices*: WTI crude oil (future) price was hovering at $39.77 per barrel & Brent future crude oil (future) price was trading at $42.42 per barrel.

Forex Rates*: GBP to USD and EUR to GBP were hovering at 1.2567 and 0.9035, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasury yield was tilting at 0.637 per cent, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was hovering at 0.178 per cent, respectively.

*At the time of writing