FTSE 100 trades marginally in red, tracking the Asian peers

Summary 

• FTSE 100 trades slightly lower but on track to close the week in the positive zone.

• Crude oil prices trade lower as investors worry about the recent rise in delta variant cases in China and the US.

FTSE 100 trades slightly lower, down by 0.03% at 7,118. The top gainer amongst the blue-chip index was the exchange operator, London Stock Exchange Group Plc, which is up by 4.47% after it announced good performance in its half-yearly result.

Meanwhile, salaries for the staff working in the UK rose to record levels as UK based companies struggle to find permanent staff as per the survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). The rise in salaries is mainly due to staff shortage as demand for workers outstrips the supply because of pickup in the economic activities. The UK is also facing a staff shortage due to Brexit, which led to a scarcity of European workers.

European Markets

Major European market indexes are trading in the positive zone. German blue-chip DAX index is up by 0.20% at 15,744, while the CAC40, benchmark index of France was at 6,791, up by 0.15%. The European market continues to trade higher this week, supported by good cooperate earnings and upgrade in the full-year guidance by some big companies like Siemens, Bayer and Adidas.

Currency Markets

The pound traded lower against the dollar at 1.3912, down by 0.12%; the British currency is trading lower after the Bank of England kept its interest rate unchanged at 0.1% and continued its asset-buying program. The forex market investors focus is now on the US nonfarm payroll data, which will be announced later in the day.

Commodities

Brent crude oil October futures trades at USD 71.68, up by 0.55%, while the WTI crude oil contract trades at USD 69.44, up by 0.51%. The crude oil prices are marginally trading higher today. Still, the crude oil prices are down over 6% on a weekly basis because of the recent rise in coronavirus cases in the US and China, which are the biggest oil consumers. Due to rising Delta variant coronavirus cases, investors anticipate lower fuel demand from the US and China. However, the oil price gained some support from the rising tension between Israel and Iran.  

Gold August futures contract trades in the negative zone, down by 0.62% at USD 1797 per ounce.

Asian Markets

Major Asia Pacific indexes ended lower. China’s Shanghai Composite closed in red, down by 0.24% at 3,458. India’s Nifty 50 closed at 16,238, down by 0.35%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed in red, down by 0.10% at 26,179. On the other hand, Australia’s ASX200 closed at 7,538, up by 0.36%, while Nikkei 225 of Japan closed in the green, up by 0.33% at 27,820.