Markets Rise As Brexit Deal Is Reached

Global Markets*: US equities traded higher at the Wall Street on Thursday (October 17), as worries over Brexit eased post the UK struck a preliminary last minute-deal with the EU bloc and investors’ sentiments also boosted with upbeat earnings from Netflix and Morgan Stanley. While writing (before the US market closed at ET 1:25 PM), global benchmark index of the NYSE, the S&P 500 index traded 8.68 points or 0.29% higher at 2,998.37, the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average Index added 22.14 points or 0.08% to 27,024.12 and the Nasdaq Composite index bagged 26.63 points or 0.33% to 8,150.81, respectively.

Global News*: On 17^th October 2019, the markets opened higher as the news of a new Brexit deal being agreed upon had surfaced, easing some geopolitical uneasiness. Netflix stock gained 8 per cent after it was reported that the company added 6.8 million new customers in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley stock was up by 3.7 per cent after reporting earnings at US $1.27 per share, beating the market estimates. Honeywell International also gained 0.4 per cent on beating the market expectations on earnings. International Business Machines (IBM) stock was down 6.1 per cent following a poor revenue performance, which was unsuccessful in meeting market expectations. Tesla stock gained 0.9 per cent after it was reported that the Electric Car manufacturer has received manufacturing approval in China, following which it can begin production in the country. Apple Inc’s stock was up by 0.5 per cent, after some news sources reported that the company’s Apple Pay services was being examined by European regulators.

Best Performing Sectors*: Basic Materials (up 1.24%), Industrials (up 1.03%), and Healthcare (up 0.83%).

Worst Performing Sector*: Utilities (down by 0.77%).

S&P 500 (SPX)*

Best Performers:Â Dover Corp, United Rentals Inc and Netflix Inc were the leaders and edged up by 7.35%, 6.43% and 4.18% respectively.

Worst Performers: International Business Machines Corp, Textron Inc and CBS Corp were the laggards and contracted by 5.21%, 4.24% and 3.82% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)*

Best Performers: Future Fintech Group Inc, Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Professional Diversity Network Inc were top three gainers and accelerated by 65.96%, 63.20% and 41.13% respectively.

Worst Performers:Â Datasea Inc, Bionano Genomics Inc and Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc were the top three poor performers and plunged by 34.06%, 32.28% and 27.72% respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)*

Best Performers:Â JP Morgan Chase & Co, Johnson & Johnson and 3M Co were the leaders and leapt up by 1.37%, 1.33% and 1.33% respectively.

Worst Performers: International Business Machines Corp, Merck & Co Inc, and Intel Corp were the top three losers and dipped by 5.07%, 0.41%, and 0.31% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 14.37 points or 0.20% higher at 7,182.32, the FTSE 250 index snapped 33.15 points or 0.16% higher at 20,221.11, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 8.12 points or 0.20% higher at 3,970.80 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended at 393.08, down by 0.38 points or 0.10 per cent.

London Stock Exchange*

Top Performers: ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC (RBS), INTU PROPERTIES PLC (INTU) and CYBG PLC (CYBG) were top gainers and leapt up by 16.06%, 15.57% and 13.68% respectively.

Worst Performers: BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (BATS), DE LA RUE PLC (DLAR) and DIAGEO PLC (DGE) were the top three laggards and dipped by 4.15%, 3.74% and 3.57% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index*

5 days share price performance (October-17-2019), before the market closed (Chart sourced from Thomson Reuters)

Top Gainers: ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC (RBS), TAYLOR WIMPEY PLC (TW.) and LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC (LLOY) were top performers and accelerated by 16.06%, 12.08% and 12.02% respectively.

Top Laggards: BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (BATS), DIAGEO PLC (DGE) and WPP PLC (WPP) were the poor performers and tumbled by 4.11%, 3.52% and 3.44% respectively.

Volume Leaders: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC; (TSCO) TESCO PLC.

Best Performing Sectors: Financials (up 4.67%), Technology (up 3.52%), and Utilities (up 2.97%).

Worst Performing Sectors: Healthcare (down 2.42%), Consumer Non-Cyclicals (down 2.08%) and Healthcare (down 1.04%).

FX Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.2853 and 0.8657, respectively.

10 Year Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.741%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.688%, respectively.

*At the time of writing