Market Updates (2): 5 January

January 06, 2021 03:56 AM AEDT | By Team Kalkine Media

FTSE 100 turns flat as ‘lockdown grants’ fail to lift investors’ mood

UK stock markets surrendered most of the morning gains in the afternoon deals on Tuesday, 5 January, with the headline FTSE 100 index turning flat after opening in positive territory. Chancellor Sunak’s announcement of lockdown grants seemed to have failed in impressing the investor class, renewing the fears over the business disparity.

The Prime Minister’s cautious speech pointing to the alarmingly high rate of hospital admissions and the new cases have also retraced the short-lived optimism. The government’s idea of supporting the businesses with one-off grants has had a downcast effect on the expectations from a prospective relief package. A large section of businesses was anticipating continuous support throughout the national lockdown.

Markets retreat from highs

According to the latest data available with the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE 100 index was trading marginally changed at 6,575.52, up 0.05 per cent at around 1425 GMT from the previous close of 6,571.88. During the day so far, the benchmark index has made a high and low of 6,622.77 and 6,544.25, respectively.

FTSE 100 (5 January)

(Source: Refinitiv, Thomson Reuters)

Surprisingly, all the broader share indices of the London Stock Exchange have also slowed down in a nearly similar fashion as compared to the FTSE 100 index. The FTSE All-Share was trading 0.15 per cent higher at 3,730.11, FTSE 350 was hovering at 3,756.78, up 0.14 per cent, while FTSE 250 was trading at 20,616.38, up 0.38 per cent.

GBP manages to float higher

The GBP vs USD pair has traded in the positive region for the most part of the day so far, recoiling from the dip realised after the announcement of lockdown grants. The pound sterling hovering on a higher side has been largely due to elongated weakness of the greenback against a basket of international currencies including euro.

As per the latest data, the GBP to USD pair was trading at 1.3601, up 0.23 per cent from the previous close of 1.3569. The Bank of England had fixed a currency conversion rate of 1.3579 USD and 1.1065 EUR against a unit of pound sterling on 4 January.

Commodity check

Commodities market bounced back in the positive direction with an ounce of gold trading 0.14 per cent higher at $1,945.47 after a short session of profit-booking. The oil market seemed to be quite vibrant on Tuesday with a barrel of Brent crude oil trading at $52.78, up 3.31 per cent and WTI crude hovering 3.80 per cent higher at $52.78 per barrel.

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.