Optimism Around No-Deal Separation Can Be Prevented

Global Markets*: Stocks in the United States were trending in green zone, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged marginally to 26,814.69, up by 44.49 points or 0.17%, the S&P 500 index added 19.90 points or 0.67% to 3,006.10 and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite increased 72.81 points or 0.90% to 8,162.35 (at the time of writing, before the US market close, ET 2:10 PM).

Global News*: On 21^st October 2019, the markets opened higher after reports suggested that there was a chance of reaching a temporary agreement in US-China Trade conflict by mid-November. Boeing was down 2.4 per cent after being downgraded by two analysts, post news reports that the company’s pilots were aware of the 737 Max’s security issues regarding the flight control software since 2016. Hewlett Packard was up 2.9 per cent after being upgraded by an analyst from ‘underperform’ to ‘buy’. Facebook was up 0.7 per cent following an announcement that it will create a string of digital stable coins backed by individual currencies. Share prices of Four pharmaceutical companies, namely Teva Pharma Industries, McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal health were all down around 2 per cent post news of reaching a settlement deal for their alleged rolls in the opioid crisis. Beyond Meat was down 3.6 per cent following the CFRA initiating the coverage at ‘Sell’ due to high competition in the market.

Top Performing Sectors*: Basic Materials (up 0.98%), Energy (up 0.95%) and Industrials (up 0.85%).

Worst Performing Sector*: Utilities (down 0.05%).

S&P 500 (SPX)*

Top Performers: Coty Inc, Halliburton Co and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co are top gainers and increased by 11.56%, 5.64% and 4.04% respectively.

Worst Performers: Boeing Co, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 4.28%, 3.86% and 3.12% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)*

Top Performers*: Petmed Express Inc, Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc, and NF Energy Saving Corp are top gainers and increased by 29.84%, 19.69% and 18.75% respectively.

Worst Performers*:Â Bionano Genomics Inc, Assertio Therapeutics Inc and Attis Industries Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 55.79%, 35.89% and 22.29% respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)*

Top Performers:Â Dow Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JP Morgan Chase & Co are top gainers and increased by 1.90%, 1.88% and 1.84% respectively.

Worst Performers: Boeing Co, Coca-Cola Co and International Business Machines Corp are the top three laggards and decreased by 4.65%, 1.26%, and 1.17% respectively.

European News: British PM Johnson will try again to get his Withdrawal agreement done through the House of Commons on October 21, 2019 (Monday), after lawmakers decided to delay their agreement, a humiliating blow for a leader who has staked his reputation on leaving on the scheduled Brexit date.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 13.07 points or 0.18% higher at 7,163.64, the FTSE 250 index snapped 80.26 points or 0.40% higher at 20,308.79, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 8.45 points or 0.21% higher at 3,965.34 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended at 394.22, up by 2.38 points or 0.61 per cent.

London Stock Exchange*

Top Performers: FUNDING CIRCLE HOLDINGS PLC (FCH), FINABLR PLC (FIN) and CAPITAL & COUNTIES PROPERTIES PLC (CAPC) were top gainers and leapt up by 15.92%, 8.97% and 8.13% respectively.

Worst Performers: TRIFAST PLC (TRI), SMITH & NEPHEW PLC (SN.) and PRUDENTIAL PLC (PRU) were the top three laggards and dipped by 14.51%, 9.73% and 9.43% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index*

 5 days share price performance (October-21-2019), before the market closed (Chart sourced from Thomson Reuters)

Top Gainers: INTL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES GROUP SA (IAG), CENTRICA PLC (CNA) and AUTO TRADER GROUP PLC (AUTO) were top performers and accelerated by 3.74%, 3.51% and 3.13% respectively.

Top Laggards: SMITH & NEPHEW PLC (SN.), PRUDENTIAL PLC (PRU) and JUST EAT PLC (JE.) were the poor performers and tumbled by 9.78%, 9.56% and 5.09% respectively.

Volume Leaders: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (GLEN) GLENCORE PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC.

Best Performing Sectors: Financials (up 1.15%), Basic Materials (up 0.86%), and Utilities (up 0.55%).

Worst Performing Sectors: Healthcare (down 1.53%), Consumer Non-Cyclicals (down 0.71%) and Technology (down 0.04%).

FX Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.2973 and 0.8597, respectively.

10 Year Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.792%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.752%, respectively.

*At the time of writing