AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 5.10 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 2,873.38, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index contracted by 30.99 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 24,102.79, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 8,647.19, down by 82.97 points or 0.95 per cent against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 11:00 AM ET).
US News: The Wall Street surged for a fifth consecutive day, following the positive earnings updates from several big players. However, the US Oil price dropped over 7 per cent in the early trading to $11.81 a barrel. Meanwhile, the consumer confidence nosedived to six years low in April at 86.9 while it was 118.8 in March. Among the stocks, 3M Co rose over 2.6 per cent post reporting strong growth in personal safety products like N95 respirator masks. Ford, Fiat Chrysler and General Motors soared over 2.7 per cent, 2.0 per cent and 0.9 per cent as they plan to resume US production from 18th May 2020. Caterpillar fell over 0.5 per cent post reporting 21 per cent decline in first-quarter sales. UPS dipped over 4.5 per cent as they reported profit below the expectation.
S&P 500 (SPX)
Top Performers*: Harley-Davidson Inc, F5 Networks Inc, and PVH Corp shares increased by 11.77%, 11.52% and 9.78%, respectively.
Non Performers*: Cinicinnati Financial Corp, Waters Corp and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc shares decreased by 11.95%, 5.72% and 4.85%, respectively.
NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)
Top Performers*: RTI Surgical Holdings Inc, Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc and Meridian Corp shares expanded by 57.35%, 52.91% and 33.23%, respectively.
Worst Performers*: Avinger Inc, Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd and Yield10 Bioscience Inc shares plunged by 27.49%, 19.38% and 19.09%, respectively.
Top Performing Sectors*: Energy (+3.18%), Industrials (+2.04%) and Financials (+1.89%).
Top Worst Sectors*: Healthcare (-1.02%), Telecommunications Services (-0.57%), and Technology (-0.01%).
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
Top Performers*: 3M Co, Boeing Co and Dow Inc are the top gainers and increased by 4.77%, 4.36% and 3.69%, respectively.
Non Performers*: Merck & Co Inc, Pfizer Inc and Caterpillar Inc shares decreased by 4.28%, 1.33% and 1.02% respectively.
European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 111.71 points or 1.91 per cent higher at 5,958.50, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 338.86 points or 2.12 per cent higher at 16,291.58, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 61.59 points or 1.91 per cent higher at 3,281.88, respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended up by 5.65 points or 1.68 per cent, at 341.09. Among other major European indices, DAX index closed the session at 10,795.63, up by 135.64 points or 1.27 per cent; CAC 40 index increased by 64.53 points or 1.43 per cent and ended the trading session at 4,569.79.
European News: London and European markets surged today as the investors are betting on the gradual reopening of the economy with early sign of pandemic easing. Adjacently, Rishi Sunak (British Chancellor of the Exchequer) announced that he will be initiating a small loan guarantee scheme to allow small businesses to take loan from the government directly. Meanwhile, the National Statistics Institute stated that Spain’s unemployment rate surged to 14.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, German economic institute stated that pandemic might cause an economic contraction of 6.6 per cent in 2020. Among the stocks, Wirecard plummeted over 27 per cent post releasing results investigated by KPMG as an auditor. BP Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc initially slipped around 1.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent (however, both showed a gradual increase in price later), respectively as their profit tumbled in the first quarter. Contrarily, Burford Capital gained over 22 per cent after reporting robust growth in the portfolio. UBS Group AG gained over 6.7 per cent post reporting 40 per cent increase in first-quarter profits.
London Stock Exchange
Top Performers*: ASA INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC (ASAI), CINEWORLD GROUP PLC (CINE) and REGIONAL REIT LD (RGL) are top movers and rose by 19.60%, 19.51% and 15.55%, respectively.
Worst Performers*: FUNDING CIRCLE HOLDINGS PLC (FCH), SIG PLC (SHI) and CLIPPER LOGISTICS PLC (CLG) plunged by 7.97%, 4.97% and 4.24%, respectively.
FTSE 100 Index
5 days FTSE 100 Index Performance (April-28-2020), before the market closed (Source: TR)
Best Gainers*: JD SPORTS FASHION PLC (JD.), CARNIVAL PLC (CCL) and INFORMA PLC (INF) expanded by 11.32%, 9.61% and 9.54%, respectively.
Non Performers*: RECKITT BENCKISER GROUP PLC (RB.), FRESNILLO PLC (FRES) and EASYJET PLC (EZJ) plunged by 2.04%, 1.84% and 1.29%, respectively.
Shares traded with high-level volume*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC; (BT.A) BT GROUP PLC.
Top Sectors traded in the positive zone*: Consumer Cyclicals (+4.05%), Financials (+3.62%), and Energy (+2.63%).
Top Sector traded in the negative zone*: Healthcare (-0.59%).
Oil Prices*: WTI crude oil future price was nudging at $12.34 per barrel, and Brent crude oil future price was trading at $22.66 per barrel.
Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were hovering at 1.2432 and 0.8717, respectively.
Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was tilting at 0.616%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was hovering at 0.289%, respectively.
*At the time of writing
