In the Global market, shares on the Wallstreet were trading in red, with broader index S&P 500 was quoting at 2,900.74 and shrunk by 6.32 points or 0.18%, the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite reduced by 7.69 points or 0.10% to 7,992.61 and Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at 26,432.27 and narrowed by 20.39 points or 0.08%, at the time of writing.
Data from the Commerce Department showed that the U.S. trade deficit dipped to an eight-month low in February. Trade deficit declined by 3.4 per cent to $49.4 billion in February as exports increased by 1.1 per cent while imports rose by 0.2 per cent. The improvement trade gap was led by plunging imports from China as Chinese imports fell by 20.2 per cent.
Annual house prices growth across Britain fell to its weakest level since September 2012. The Office for National Statistics reported that average house prices in the UK rose by 0.6% in the year to February, falling to its slowest rate in more than six years, with London experiencing its biggest slump in a decade. Meanwhile, the consumer price index offered some respite for UK households as CPI remained unchanged at 1.9% in March.
Coming back to the European market, London’s largest index for top 100 blue-chip stocks, FTSE 100 index, ended the Wednesday’s session at 7,471.32 and added 1.40 points or 0.02% against its previous day closing price, the FTSE 250 index traded 65.25 points or 0.33% lower at 19,858.13 and the FTSE All-Share index narrowed by 1.49 points or 0.04% and ended the session at 4,090.55 respectively. Another broader European benchmark index STOXX 600 traded 0.38 points or 0.10% higher at 389.59 in Wednesday's session.
FTSE 100 Index
5-day Daily Price Chart (as on April 17, 2019). (Source: Thomson Reuters)
London Stock Exchange Cues
Stocks like LONMIN PLC (LMI), ALLIED MINDS PLC (ALM) and MEDICLINIC INTERNATIONAL PLC (MDC) were among the top movers on the London Stock Exchange and were ended higher by 9.52%, 8.38% and 7.80% respectively, on the other side, stocks like PENDRAGON PLC (PDG), BUNZL PLC (BNZL) and RDI REIT P.L.C (RDI) were among the laggards on the London Stock Exchange and have plummeted by 9.74%, 9.29% and 5.66% respectively.
FTSE 100 Cues
In the Wednesday’s market session, stocks like TUI AG (TUI), ITV PLC (ITV) and PADDY POWER BETFAIR PLC (PPB) were among the leading stocks on the broader index FTSE 100 index and were ended up by 4.54%, 2.72% and 2.21% respectively, on the flip side, stocks like BUNZL PLC (BNZL), RIO TINTO PLC (RIO) and BHP GROUP PLC (BHP) were among the laggards on the broader benchmark index FTSE 100 and were down by 9.29%, 2.69% and 2.55% respectively.
At Sectorial Performance standpoint, Telecommunications Services, Consumer Cyclicals and Energy were among the best-performing sectors on the FTSE 100 index and on the laggard side, Basic Materials, Healthcare and Technology sectors were among the laggards on the FTSE 100 index.
Exchange Rates*
- GBP/USD was quoting at 1.3041.
- EUR/GBP was exchanging at 0.8664.
Bond Yields*
- US 10Y Treasury Bond yield was trading at 2.596%.
- UK 10Y Bond yield was quoting at 1.235%.
*At the time of writing
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