US Markets: Broader indexes in the United States were trading in green, with the S&P 500 index traded 1.48 points or 0.05% higher at 3,194.00, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index expanded by 26.04 points or 0.09% and quoting at 28,293.20 and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded higher at 8,831.70 and was up by 8.35 points or 0.09% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at ET 10:25 AM).
Global News: On 18th December 2019, the Wall Street opened in the red, after hitting record highs in the previous trading session. FedEx posted a 40 per cent drop in its profit for Q2 2020, following which, its stock plunged by 7.6 per cent. Devon Energy stock was up by 1.3 per cent, after news sources reported the sale rumours of its Barnett Shale operations, which seemed to make investors happy. Pacific Gas and Electric stock gained a massive 11.6 per cent after a court ruled in its favour towards a settlement of US $13.5 billion in lieu of massive wildfires caused by the company’s faulty equipment. Tesla was marginally up by 0.1 per cent, after it was reported that its Chinese made cars would consider cutting prices by 20 per cent from 2020. General Mills reported a 7 per cent year on year rise in its operating profit and its stock was up by 2.5 per cent.
S&P 500 (SPX)
Top Performers*: Wynn Resorts Ltd, Cintas Corp and HanesBrands Inc are top gainers and increased by 3.69%, 2.81% and 2.80% respectively.
Worst Performers*: FedEx Corp, Halliburton Co, and Schlumberger NV are the top three laggards and decreased by 6.92%, 1.05% and 0.99% respectively.
NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)
Top Performers*: YayYo Inc, Inpixon, and Tarena International Inc are top gainers and increased by 43.25%, 34.20% and 26.66% respectively.
Worst Performers*: Trans World Entertainment Corp, ADDvantage Technologies Group Inc and Twelve Seas Investment Co are the top three laggards and decreased by 19.75%, 18.38% and 15.79% respectively.
Top Performing Sectors*: Consumer Non-Cyclicals (up 0.60%), Consumer Cyclicals (up 0.34%) and Utilities (up 0.33%).
Worst Performing Sectors*: Energy (down 0.01%), Healthcare (down 0.15%) and Basic Materials (down 0.32%).
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
Top Performers*: Nike Inc, Boeing Co, and Home Depot Inc are top gainers and increased by 0.65%, 0.50% and 0.50% respectively.
Worst Performers*: United Technologies Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp, and American Express Co are the top three laggards and decreased by 0.42%, 0.30% and 0.24% respectively.
European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 15.47 points or 0.21% higher at 7,540.75, the FTSE 250 index snapped 27.07 points or 0.12% lower at 21,663.13, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 6.60 points or 0.16% higher at 4,186.14, respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended at 414.38, down by 0.54 points or 0.13 per cent.
European News: In economic news, the British economy has failed to register any growth for the third month in a row, as it still continues to be under the aftereffects of pre-Brexit jitters and the United States-China trade war global cues. The British economy registered a zero growth in the October month, whereas, in the previous months of August and September, it had registered contraction. In other news, the United Kingdom manufacturing job loss data has hit a 7-month low on account of the most manufacturers stockpiling in the event of a no deal Brexit. In business news, the United Kingdom competition regulator is set to enact stronger regulations to end the dominance of Google and Facebook in the online advertisement market. Google accounts for almost 90 per cent of all online ad revenues in the United Kingdom.
London Stock Exchange
Best Performers*: ARROW GLOBAL GROUP PLC (ARW), HANSTEEN HOLDINGS PLC (HSTN) and ALFA FINANCIAL SOFTWARE HOLDINGS PL (ALFA) were on the bright spot for the day and up by 15.66%, 10.61% and 7.59% respectively.
Worst Performers*: HUNTSWORTH PLC (HNT), FRASERS GROUP PLC (FRAS) and NORCROS PLC (NXR) are the top three laggards of the day and down by 8.45%, 5.53% and 5.03% respectively.
FTSE 100 Index
5-days Price Performance Chart of FTSE-100 Index (as on December-18-2019), before the market closed. (Source: Thomson Reuters)
Performers*: HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS PLC (HIK), PEARSON PLC (PSON) and ASHTEAD GROUP PLC (AHT) are the top three gainers in today’s session and up by 2.23%, 2.21% and 1.86% respectively.
Laggards*: PERSIMMON PLC (PSN), MEGGITT PLC (MGGT), and BERKELEY GROUP HOLDINGS (THE) PLC (BKG) are top laggards at the FTSE 100 index and down by 3.16%, 3.15% and 2.62% respectively.
Volume Gainers*: LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC (LLOY), VODAFONE GROUP PLC (VOD), and BARCLAYS PLC (BARC).
Best Performing Sectors*: Consumer Non-Cyclicals (up 0.48%), Energy (up 0.48%) and Healthcare (up 0.41%).
Worst Performing Sectors*: Consumer Cyclicals (down 0.39%), Financials (down 0.25%), and Telecommunications Services (down 0.05%).
Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.3083 and 0.8499, respectively.
Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.924%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.777%, respectively.
*At the time of writing
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