FTSE AIM Index Edged Higher by 0.96% at Close of Trade; Synairgen up 420.55%

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded on a mixed note - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 9.17 points or 0.28 per cent higher at 3,233.90, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index contracted by 78.70 points or 0.30 per cent lower at 26,593.25, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded higher at 10,646.53, up by 143.34 points or 1.36 per cent against the previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 12:05 PM ET).

US Market News: The Wall Street opened mixed over the positive clinical trials of coronavirus vaccine. The US Congress is discussing new stimulus package for Covid-19 relief; the Congress earlier committed USD 3 trillion to the crisis. Among the gaining stocks, Noble Energy was up by close to 5.2 percent after Chevron is expected to buy the company for USD 5 billion. Pfizer was up by about 1.6 percent after the company signed a deal with the UK for supplying coronavirus vaccine post-development. Similarly, eBay inched up by about 0.5 percent after the company's classified ad business would be bought by Adevinta for approximately USD 9 billion. Among the decliners, Chevron's shares were down by 1.9 percent after the company announced a takeover of Noble Energy. Walt Disney was down by 0.7 percent after the company announced it would reduce the advertising budget on Facebook.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Three Performers*: Noble Energy Inc (NBL), Incyte Corp (INCY), and Halliburton Company (HAL) stocks jumped by 6.06 per cent, 4.39 per cent and 4.13 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: Gap Inc (GPS), Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM) and Kohle Corp (KSS) shares decreased by 6.52 per cent, 5.29 per cent and 5.08 per cent, respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Elite Three Performers*: Immuron Ltd (IMRN), Majesco (MJCO) and Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holdings (TNXP) shares traded in the green zone and expanded by 157.93 per cent, 68.98 per cent and 40.74 per cent, respectively.

Worst Three Performers*: Genetic Technologies Ltd (GENE), Color Star Technology Co Ltd (HHT) and Nikola Corporation (NKLA) shares contracted by 26.98 per cent, 24.14 per cent and 17.73 per cent, respectively.

Top Performing Sectors*: Energy (+1.18 per cent), Consumer Cyclicals (+0.94 per cent) and Technology (+0.89 per cent).

Top Worst Sectors*: Consumer Non-Cyclicals (-1.15 per cent), Utilities (-0.65 per cent) and Industrials (-0.46 per cent).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Best Three Performers*: Pfizer Inc (PFE), Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Visa Inc (V) shares were in bright spot and surged by around 1.60 per cent, 1.53 per cent and 0.88 per cent, respectively.

Worst Three Performers*: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA), Chevron Corp (CVX) and Exxon Mobile Corp (XOM) shares plunged by 2.54 per cent, 2.32 per cent and 2.18 per cent, respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 28.78 points or 0.46 per cent lower at 6,261.52, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 37.92 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 17,385.85, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 11.73 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 3,461.01, respectively. Another European index STOXX 600 increased by 2.80 points or 0.75 per cent, at 375.51. Among other major European indices, CAC 40 index increased by 23.76 points or 0.47 per cent and ended the trading session at 5,093.18; DAX index closed the session at 13,046.92, up by 127.31 points or 0.99 per cent.

European News: London market retreated, whereas the European market advanced. The IHS Markit reported that the UK's Household Finance Index increased to 41.5 in July from 40.7 in June. As per the industry experts, the footfall at the retail space grew by 4.5 percent week on week (for the week ended 18 July 2020). Meanwhile, the UK's prime minister Boris Johnson assured that the UK would engage constructively with EU on Brexit deal. Among the gaining stocks, AstraZeneca was up by 1.6 percent over optimism of development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Similarly, Rightmove shares were up by close to 1.4 percent after the company stated that the housing market is undergoing mini-boom due to tax cut measures announced by the government. Among the decliners, IAG shed around 2.8 percent after a consortium of airlines asked the UK government to waive-off air passenger duty for one year. GSK declined by about 1.3 percent after the company announced it would buy 10 percent stake in CureVac for USD 163 million. Marks & Spencer was down by about 0.85 percent after the company plans to cut 950 jobs.

London Stock Exchange

Top Three Performers*: FUTURE PLC (FUTR), RIVER AND MERCANTILE GROUP (RIV) and BATM ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED (BVC) accelerated significantly by 13.22 per cent, 7.90 per cent and 7.69 per cent, respectively.

Worst Performers*: AMIGO HOLDINGS PLC (AMGO), PREMIER FOODS PLC (PFD) and TED BAKER PLC (TED) plunged by 21.03 per cent, 8.53 per cent and 8.03 per cent, respectively.

FTSE 100 Index Performance

3 months FTSE 100 Index Performance (20 July 2020), before the market close (Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)

Best three Gainers*: ASTRAZENCA PLC (LON:AZN), INTERMEDIATE CAPITAL GROUP (LON:ICP) & AVEVA GROUP PLC (LON:AVV) leapt up by 2.71 per cent, 2.50 per cent and 2.23 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: INTERNATIONAL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES GROUP S.A. (LON:IAG), BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (LON:BATS) and ITV PLC (LON:ITV) traded in the red zone and decreased by 3.47 per cent, 3.27 per cent and 3.05 per cent, respectively.

Stocks traded with decent volume*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BP.) BP PLC; (VOD) VODAFONE PLC.

Top Sectors traded in the positive zone*: Technology (+1.06 per cent) and Utilities (+0.30 per cent).

Top Sectors traded in the negative zone*: Energy (-2.29 per cent), Consumer Cyclicals (-0.93 per cent), and Telecommunications Services (-0.77 per cent).

Crude Oil Future Prices*: WTI crude oil (future) price and Brent future crude oil (future) price were hovering at $40.80 per barrel and $43.20 per barrel, respectively.

Gold Price*: Gold price was trading at USD 1,818.55 per ounce, up by 0.47% from previous day closing.

Forex Rates*: GBP to USD and EUR to GBP were trading at 1.2658 and 0.9045, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasury yield and UK 10-Year Government Bond yield were tilting at 0.618 per cent and 0.150 per cent, respectively.

*At the time of writing