UK Heads For A General Election

Global Markets: Benchmark indices of the New York Stock Exchange traded in green on Wednesday (October 30, 2019), with the Dow Jones Industrial Average index added 84.13 points or 0.31% to 27,155.55, the market-cap weighted S&P 500 index surged by 7.67 points or 0.25% to 3,044.56 and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite expanded by 23.73 points or 0.29% to 8,300.58, respectively (at the time of writing before the US market close at 3:20 PM ET).

Global News: On 30^th October 2019, Wall Street opened in green after the news that the US economy grew at a much faster pace at 1.9 per cent in the Q3 2019. Mattel stock was reported to be up by 19.5 per cent after its Q3 results exceeded expectations. Yum! Brands stock was down 4.5 per cent after reported earnings below predictions of the market. Johnson and Johnson share prices were up by 2.8 per cent after it was reported that 15 new tests on its baby powder found no asbestos in the recalled lot. Fiat Chrysler stock was up by 0.5 per cent after reporting talks on a plausible merger with Peugeot. Electronic Arts stock plunged by 0.5 per cent after cancelling an update on its NBA Game. General Electric stock surged by 8.4 per cent post raising predictions on the year end cash flow to be generated.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers:Â General Electric Co, Concho Resources Inc and Garmin Ltd are top gainers and increased by 9.26%, 8.08% and 7.54% respectively.

Worst Performers: C H Robinson Worldwide Inc, Yum Brands Inc and IQVIA Holdings Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 11.94%, 8.99% and 6.90% respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers:Â Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications Inc and Nike Inc are top gainers and increased by 2.48%, 1.00% and 0.78% respectively.

Worst Performers: Dow Inc, Boeing Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 1.67%, 1.24%, and 0.90% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers: Neuralstem Inc, Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp, and Bionano Genomics Inc are top gainers and increased by 40.46%, 38.17% and 21.62% respectively.

Worst Performers:Â Cyclerion Therapeutics Inc, Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc and Enphase Energy Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 78.03%, 25.28% and 18.58% respectively.

Top Performing Sectors: Utilities (up 0.48%).

Worst Performing Sectors: Technology (down 0.15%), Telecommunication services (down 0.16%) and Consumer Cyclicals (down 0.18%).

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 24.52 points or 0.34% higher at 7,330.78, the FTSE 250 index snapped 53.23 points or 0.26% lower at 20,115.10, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 8.76 points or 0.22% higher at 4,032.80 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended at 398.70, up by 0.33 points or 0.08 per cent.

European News: Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who failed to deliver on his promise to get the United Kingdom out of the EU on 31 October, finally won parliamentary approval for an election on 12 December which could decide whether the country would leave the European Union. Many pundits reckon that election results are hard to predict as voters seemed to have ditched their loyalty towards parties, with the upcoming vote for the first Christmas election in Britain since 1923. A survey by polling company YouGov showed that the expectations of public for inflation over the next 12 months fell to the lowest since June, as year-ahead inflation expectations dropped to 2.7% in October from 2.9% in September. Sterling remained steady ahead of elections while volatility remained subdued as large currency options are expiring this week.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: CONVATEC GROUP PLCÂ (CTEC), INDIVIOR PLC (INDV) and ALLIED MINDS PLC (ALM) are top gainers and increased by 14.72%, 7.03% and 5.51% respectively.

Worst Performers*: DE LA RUE PLC (DLAR), DIALIGHT PLC (DIA) and FUNDING CIRCLE HOLDINGS PLC (FCH) are the top three laggards and decreased by 19.79%, 7.46% and 6.96% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

 Five days Price Performance (October-30-2019), before the market closed; Source: Thomson Reuters

Top Gainers*: RECKITT BENCKISER GROUP PLC (RB.), STANDARD CHARTERED PLC (STAN) and INTERTEK GROUP PLCÂ (ITRK) are top gainers at the FTSE 100 index and climbed by 2.65%, 2.27% and 2.00% respectively.

Top Laggards*: NMC HEALTH PLC (NMC), KINGFISHER PLC (KGF) and WHITBREAD PLC (WTB) are top three laggards in today’s session and reduced by 5.65%, 3.62% and 3.44% respectively.

Volume Leaders*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BP) BP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC.

Best Performing Sectors*: Healthcare (up 0.92%), Consumer Non-Cyclicals (up 0.75%), and Industrials (up 0.35%).

Worst Performing Sectors*: Basic Materials (down 1.70%), Financials (down 0.93%), and Consumer Cyclicals (down 0.76%).

Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.2904 and 0.8638, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.780%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.677%, respectively.

*At the time of writing