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Source:Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd.
Summary
- FTSE 100 is set to open largely flat on Wednesday
- Lower GDP growth in February has faded optimism
- The futures linked to the FTSE 100 traded little changed
- Asian markets registered a sharp bounce back
The benchmark FTSE 100 is set to open largely flat on Wednesday, 14 April, even as Asian equities stage a meaningful rebound from the murkier trading activity in the last two days. The lower-than-expected GDP growth in February 2021 has once again faded the investors’ optimism for London equities as the reading for February stood well below the consequential peak recognised in October 2020.
The futures linked to the FTSE 100 traded little changed, up 0.07 per cent, indicating a marginally higher start to the London equities. Wall Street ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite rising more than 1 per cent, largely driven by the 8 per cent spike in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares. The stock of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), rose 2.43 per cent, also supported the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Dow Industrials dropped 0.20 per cent, whereas S&P 500 gained 0.33 per cent.
Meanwhile, Asian markets registered a sharp bounce back from the lows seen in the present week. Barring Japan’s Nikkei 225, all the major stock indices surged in the trade today, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and India’s Nifty 50 leading the charge. According to data available with various exchanges, Shanghai Composite of China gained 0.55 per cent, Kospi of South Korea soared 0.47 per cent, Hang Seng of Hong Kong rallied 1.41 per cent, Nifty 50 of India jumped 1.36 per cent, while Nikkei 225 of Japan slipped 0.35 per cent.
The prolonged optimism on the back of the ever-expanding umbrella of the inoculation programme in the UK and the phased reopening of sectors according to the planned easements prescribed in the exit roadmap has seemingly diminished.
The unending issues surrounding the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine with regard to the apparent blood clot formation in some of the patients have been a reason for worry for the UK as the country emerged as one of the frontrunners in providing the vaccine on a global platform. The market participants have tilted their focus on more significant indicators, including the macroeconomic releases scheduled in the upcoming weeks and corporate earnings lined up for the quarter.