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US Markets: Commencing the last week of this month, all the three stock indices of Wall Street started on a positive footing with the tech barometer Nasdaq Composite leading the charge, followed by the marginal changes in Dow Industrials and broader market index S&P 500. Both Dow and S&P 500 are just short of a few points to hit fresh all-time highs on the trading counters, while the Nasdaq Composite looks refreshed to inch forward its previously-acclaimed record peak with the focus on Facebook’s July-September results.
The S&P 500 traded at 4,552.01, up 0.16% from the previous close of 4,544.90, Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 35,685.92, up 0.02% from the last close of 35,677.02, while Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.43% to 15,154.97.
US Market News: Shares of Facebook remained in focus ahead of the earnings release and the apparent disclosure of documents enlightening the corporation’s stance in handling hate speech in non-English speaking countries and Capitol Hill’s brawl on 6 January earlier this year before the termination of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The stock of Facebook dropped more than 1% in the opening trade, recouped losses in a matter of 20 minutes, then slipped again into the negative territory. According to the data available with Nasdaq, Facebook shares advanced over 2% to an intraday peak of $326.47 from the day’s low of $319.72 apiece. The social media giant is set to release the quarterly report card post market hours.
Global Markets in a upbeat mood
Shares of Tesla (up 6.68%), PayPal (up 3.64%) and Mercadolibre (up 2.79%) emerged as the lead gainers among the 100 components of Nasdaq Composite, while the stock of Trip.com Group Baidu and Match Group lost 1-5% with the shares of heavyweight corporations Apple, Amazon, PepsiCo, Microsoft, and Facebook being the biggest negative point contributors to the index.
UK Markets: Extending the jubilation, the domestic benchmark FTSE 100 registered a fresh 52-week high with a marginal gain over the previous highs as investors remained optimistic with the ongoing corporate earnings season. On the other hand, the mid-cap reflector FTSE 250 encountered a choppy trade due to a mixed set of earnings and medium scale being at the forefront of battling the business tightening and adversities in the operative environment.
FTSE 100 (25 October)
Source: REFINITV
Image Description: FTSE 100 one-year performance as on 25 October 2021
Market Snapshot
Top 3 volume leaders: Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Vodafone
Top 3 sectoral indices: Industrial Metals, Fossil Fuels, and Health Care and Related Services
Bottom 3 sectoral indices: Aerospace, Finance Services, and Software and Computing
Crude oil prices: Brent crude up 0.96% at $85.45/barrel; US WTI crude up 1.11% at $84.69/barrel
Gold prices: An ounce of gold traded at $1,807.45, up 0.62%
Exchange rate: GBP vs USD - 1.3770, up 0.14% | GBP vs EUR - 1.1856, up 0.41%
Bond yields: US 10-Year Treasury yield - 1.627% | UK 10-Year Government Bond yield - 1.1475%
Markets @ 16:05 BST
