Key Highlights of European Markets’ Trading Performance in Friday’s Session

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 88.51 points or 3.04 per cent lower at 2,823.92, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index contracted by 621.29 points or 2.55 per cent lower at 23,724.43, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 8,578.30, down by 311.26 points or 3.50 per cent against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 12:45 PM ET).

US News: The Wall Street opened lower on the first day of the month as President Trump signalled a new tariff imposed on China over Covid-19 infection. Meanwhile, the US manufacturing sector declined as PMI dipped to 41.5 in April from 49.1 in March. Among the laggards, Amazon and Apple plunged over 6 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, as they are expecting massive headwinds in the second quarter. Exxon Mobil fell over 4 per cent, post reporting a loss of $610 million in the recent quarterly results and planning to slash spending by 30 per cent. Similarly, United Airlines fell over 7.8 per cent, post reporting around USD 1.7 billion of net loss for the first quarter. Chevron dipped over 2 per cent as it is planning to cut spending nearly USD 2 billion to weather the oil price crash. Among the gainers, Moderna surged over 8 per cent after announcing the multi-year agreement with Lonza to produce 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Clorox rose over 5.9 per cent with a record sale (in the last quarter) increase in a decade. Boeing lost over 2 per cent, following its USD 25 billion capital raising through Bond offerings.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc, Clorox Co, and Charter Communications Inc shares increased by 7.22 per cent, 5.24 per cent and 3.60 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: Weyerhaeuser Co, Western Digital Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd shares decreased by 13.90 per cent, 13.24 per cent and 11.89 per cent, respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: Gridsum Holding Inc, Aemetis Inc and Medigus Ltd shares expanded by 114.29 per cent, 103.23 per cent and 86.81 per cent, respectively.

Worst Performers*: Tuesday Morning Corp, Pixelworks Inc and Marine Petroleum Trust shares plunged by 31.72 per cent, 26.58 per cent and 24.26 per cent, respectively.

Top Worst Sectors*: Energy (-5.48%), Consumer Cyclicals (-3.73%) and Industrials (-2.95%).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: Apple Inc, Coca-Cola Co and Verizon Communications Inc are the top gainers and increased by 0.60 per cent, 0.24 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: Dow Inc, Raytheon Technologies Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp shares decreased by 8.04 per cent, 4.74 per cent and 4.11 per cent, respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 138.15 points or 2.34 per cent lower at 5,763.06, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 306.12 points or 1.86 per cent lower at 16,148.34, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 73.10 points or 2.24 per cent lower at 3,189.41, respectively. Another European index STOXX 600 ended lower by 2.64 points or 0.78 per cent, at 337.39. Among other major European indices, DAX index closed the session at 10,861.64, down by 246.10 points or 2.22 per cent; CAC 40 index decreased by 98.93 points or 2.12 per cent and ended the trading session at 4,572.18.

European News: London and European markets tumbled today as the UK housing market plunged with a slump in approvals for mortgages in March to seven years low. The BoE data showed that the growth in consumer credit stood at 3.7 per cent in the past 12 months (ended March), which is about seven years low. Moreover, as per the IHS Markit, the UK’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) plummeted to 32.6 in April from 47.8 in March. Further, the market sentiments were dented by a threat made by US President Donald Trump to China over imposing the new tariffs. Among the stocks, Royal Dutch Shell shed over 8 per cent, post slashing its dividends. IAG dipped over 3.8 per cent after the announcement of staff cut. Similarly, EasyJet and Ryanair slumped over 5 per cent as their flights are grounded. In contrast, the Royal Bank of Scotland surged over 3.6 per cent, post reporting better quarterly results than expected.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: RIVERSTONE ENERGY LIMITED (RSE), ASA INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC (ASAI) and AO WORLD PLC (AO.) are top movers and rose by 41.53 per cent, 16.25 per cent and 11.01 per cent, respectively.

Worst Performers*: CINEWORLD GROUP PLC (CINE), DE LA RUE PLC (DLAR) and SIGNATURE AVIATION PLC (SIG) plunged by 9.87 per cent, 9.73 per cent and 9.71 per cent, respectively.

FTSE 100 Index Performance

3 months FTSE 100 Index Performance (May-01-2020), before the market closed (Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)

Best Gainers*: ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC (RBS), INFORMA PLC (INF) and OCADO GROUP PLC (OCDO) expanded by 4.75 per cent, 3.76 per cent and 2.65 per cent, respectively.

Non Performers*: CARNIVAL PLC (CCL), PRUDENTIAL PLC (PRU) and ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC 'A' (RDSA) plunged by 8.03 per cent, 6.65 per cent and 6.14 per cent, respectively.

Top Shares traded with high-level volume*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC; (BP) BP PLC.

Top Sectors traded in the negative zone*: Energy (-5.29 per cent), Basic Materials (-3.07 per cent), and Financials (-1.94 per cent).

Oil Prices*: WTI crude oil future price was nudging at $19.41 per barrel, and Brent crude oil future price was trading at $26.05 per barrel.

Forex Rates*: GBP to USD and EUR to GBP were hovering at 1.2514 and 0.8782, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was tilting at 0.621 per cent, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was hovering at 0.241 per cent, respectively.

*At the time of writing