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US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded on a mixed note - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 15.32 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 3,958.80, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index surged by 159.57 points or 0.48 per cent higher at 33,174.94, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 13,342.56, down by 182.65 points or 1.35 per cent against the previous day close (at the time of writing, before the US market close at 11:30 AM ET).
US Market News: The major indices of Wall Street traded on a mixed note after a spike in the U.S. treasury bond yields. Among the gaining stocks, Accenture shares jumped by about 0.87%, after the Company reported quarterly earnings and revenue more than expectations. Among the declining stocks, Dollar General Corp shares went down by approximately 5.39% after the Company had posted earnings and forecast well short of expectations. Tesla shares dropped by about 3.37% after it updated that the Company’s most popular model would no longer be covered by the country’s subsidy program. Five Below shares went down by about 0.53%, even though the discount retailer had posted strong sales during the holiday quarter.
US Stocks Performance*
UK Market News: The London markets traded on a mixed note amid reported delays regarding the Covid-19 vaccination programme. FTSE 100 traded higher by around 0.25% as the Bank of England decided to keep interest rates unchanged. The Bank of England kept interest rates the same at 0.1% and the asset purchase programme at 895 billion pounds.
FTSE 100 listed National Grid had announced that it would purchase electricity distribution business WPD from U.S.-based PPL for approximately 7.8 billion pounds. Meanwhile, the shares went up by around 1.06%.
Energy Group BP shares grew by approximately 0.51% after it said that it would build Britain’s largest hydrogen plant by 2030.
British Online Supermarket Ocado Group had reported retail revenue growth of 39.7% during the first quarter of FY21 due to strong demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the shares went down by around 3.89%.
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group shares fell by approximately 1.62% after it had announced plans to raise 1 billion euros through a bond issue.
Online Gambling company 888 Holdings shares surged by about 5.10% after raising the dividend payments despite posting a drop in annual pre-tax profits.
European Indices Performance (at the time of writing):
FTSE 100 Index One Year Performance (as on 18 March 2021)
1 Year FTSE 100 Chart (Source: EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)
Top 3 Volume Stocks in FTSE 100*: Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY); Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc (RR.); Vodafone Group Plc (VOD).
Top 3 Sectors traded in green*: Basic Materials (+1.24%), Financials (+1.19%) and Utilities (+0.54%).
Top 3 Sectors traded in red*: Industrials (-0.66%), Consumer Cyclicals (-0.45%) and Real Estate (-0.29%).
London Stock Exchange: Stocks Performance (at the time of writing)
Crude Oil Future Prices*: Brent future crude oil (future) price and WTI crude oil (future) price were hovering at $63.35/barrel and $60.02/barrel, respectively.
Gold Price*: Gold price was quoting at US$1,732.75 per ounce, up by 0.33% against the prior day closing.
Currency Rates*: GBP to USD: 1.3935; EUR to GBP: 0.8556.
Bond Yields*: US 10-Year Treasury yield: 1.730%; UK 10-Year Government Bond yield: 0.878%.
*At the time of writing
