FTSE-100 Index Closed In Red Amid Continued Coronavirus Fears

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 35.48 points or 1.05% lower at 3,337.75, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index declined by 227.57 points or 0.78% lower at 28,992.41, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 9,576.59, down by 174.38 points or 1.79% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, after the U.S market close).

US News: On 21^st February 2020, CubeSmart shares were down by 4.3 per cent, as the company declared results that were below the estimates of the market. Chewy shares were on a five-week high and were up by 5.4 per cent, because an analyst upgraded its ratings on the company’s stock. Slack Technologies shares were up by 3.2 per cent, following a news that Uber would be moving its employees on the database. On the back of this news, Uber shares were also up by 1.2 per cent. Dropbox stocks were up by a massive 12.5 per cent, following the company’s excellent financial performance during Q4 2019. Virgin Galactic shares also saw a modest correction after a week of high gains, as the stock fell by 4.2 per cent.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Deere & Co, Pinnacle West Capital Corp, and Mosaic Co are top gainers and increased by 7.97%, 3.79% and 2.49% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Consolidation Edison Inc, MSCI Inc, and Devon Energy Corp are the top three laggards and decreased by 4.03%, 3.94% and 3.79% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: Trans World Entertainment Corp, Toughbuilt Industries Inc, and Avadel Pharmaceuticals Inc are top gainers and increased by 83.43%, 39.95% and 26.54% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Lianluo Smart Ltd, Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals Inc, and TrueCar Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 29.45%, 25.13% and 21.74% respectively.

Top Performing Sector*: Utilities (up 0.34%).

Worst Performing Sectors*: Energy (down 3.24%), Technology (down 1.34%) and Industrials (down 0.90%)

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: Proctor & Gamble Co, Walmart Inc, and Travelers Companies Inc are top gainers and increased by 0.71%, 0.38% and 0.14% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Microsoft Corp, Chevron Corp, and Exxon Mobil Corp are top laggards and decreased by 1.74%, 1.59% and 1.52% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 32.72 points or 0.44% lower at 7,403.92, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 86.49 points or 0.40% lower at 21,780.20, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 17.48 points or 0.42% lower at 4,132.71 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended, down by 2.12 points or 0.49 per cent, at 428.07.

European News: Â According the HR data provider XpertHR, employers in United Kingdom offered lowest employers pay awards during quarter ending January 2020, which is the lowest in a one-year period. This is despite the fact that the demand for labour is at its highest in the country and the unemployment rates are the lowest since 1975. The reason for this fall in wage rates despite the low unemployment levels is being attributed to the stagnation situation that the British economy was in towards the end of 2019. However, with the wage rates for January 2020 also trending weaker, it is highly likely that during the rest of the year, wage rates will grow at a lower rate than the economy.

In business news, Person (LON:PSON) lost nearly 5.27 per cent in its shares price value today on account of a 50 per cent drop in its operating profits and a profit warning issued by the management for the year 2020.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: DAEJAN HLDGS PLC (DJAN), PETROPAVLOVSK PLC (POG) and HOCHSCHILD MINING PLC (HOC) are top gainers and increased by 54.74%, 10.16% and 8.16% respectively.

Worst Performers*: INTU PROPERTIES PLC (INTU), PHAROS ENERGY PLC (PHAR) and TULLOW OIL PLC (TLW) are the top three laggards and decreased by 11.76%, 5.26% and 5.14% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

Five days Price Performance (February-21-2020), before the market closed; Source: Thomson Reuters

Top Gainers*: POLYMETAL INTERNATIONAL PLC (POLY), BERKELEY GROUP HOLDINGS (THE) PLC (BKG) and ASTRAZENECA PLC (AZN) are top gainers at the FTSE 100 index and climbed by 2.95%, 2.84% and 2.56% respectively.

Top Laggards*: PEARSON PLC (PSON), BURBERRY GROUP PLC (BRBY) and ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC 'A' (RDSA) are top three laggards in today’s session and reduced by 5.31%, 2.71% and 2.54% respectively.

Volume Leaders*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (HSBA) HSBC HLDGS PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC.

Sectors in the positive zone*: Utilities (up 0.92%) and Healthcare (up 0.74%).

Sectors in the negative zone*: Energy (-2.47%), Basic Materials (-0.99%), and Consumer Cyclicals (-0.42%).

Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.2964 and 0.8366, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.473%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.571%, respectively.

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*At the time of writing