Unemployment Rate Increases As Brexit Looms

Global Markets*: Stocks on the Wallstreet were zooming higher as earnings roll in, with the price-weighted the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index added 271.75 points or 1.01% against the previous closing level at 27,059.11, the broader S&P 500 index bagged 34.27 points or 1.16% to 3,000.42 and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite index surged 105.74 points or 1.31% to 8,154.39 respectively (at the time of writing, before the US market close, ET 1:15 PM).

Global News*: On 15^th October 2019, the markets opened higher ahead of a barrage of earnings releases especially from bulge bracket banks. As anticipated, banking stocks were buzzing the most with JP Morgan gaining 1.8 per cent after reporting an above estimated EPS along with a record revenue. Goldman Sachs stock dipped by 0.7 per cent after reporting a year on year decline in the profit. Wells Fargo was also down 1 per cent after it reported a 26 per cent decline in the profit due to legal costs. UnitedHealth was up by 2.6 per cent and Johnson & Johnson gained 1.3 per cent after the two companies beat the market estimates on earnings. Blackrock Stock was up by 0.7 per cent after reporting a profit for the quarter at US $7.15 per share.

Top Performing Sectors*: Healthcare (up 0.81%), Technology (up 0.77%), and Telecommunication Services (up 0.70%).

Worst Performing Sectors*: Energy (down 0.91%) and Basic Materials (down 0.98%).

S&P 500 (SPX)*

Top Performers: UnitedHealth Group Inc, First Republic Bank and Anthem Inc are top gainers and increased by 6.72%, 5.57% and 5.27% respectively.

Worst Performers: News Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are the top two laggards and decreased by 4.35% and 3.29% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)*

Top Performers*:Â Westwater Resources Inc, Relmada Theurapeutics Inc, and Datasea Inc are top gainers and increased by 174.32%, 88.34% and 54.47% respectively.

Worst Performers*:Â Synthesis Energy Systems Inc, Puyi Inc and NF Energy Saving Corp are the top three laggards and decreased by 36.87%, 18.18% and 17.78% respectively.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)*

Top Performers:Â UnitedHealth Group Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Johnson & Johnson are top gainers and increased by 6.50%, 2.14% and 2.11% respectively.

Worst Performers: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Proctor & Gamble Co, and Boeing Co are the top three laggards and decreased by 3.29%, 0.49%, and 0.48% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 1.81 points or 0.03% lower at 7,211.64, the FTSE 250 index snapped 267.07 points or 1.34% higher at 20,196.97, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 7.62 points or 0.19% higher at 3,982.06 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended at 394.02, up by 4.33 points or 1.11 per cent.

European News: As the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland remained a sticking point, the European Union said a breakdown of talks and subsequent delay to the 31 October scheduled departure date was still possible, even as it gave Britain until the end of Tuesday to work out a Brexit deal. The Office for National Statistics reported that employment fell by 56,000 to 32.69 million in the three months to August with the number of people in work unexpectedly falling by the most in over four years, indicating that the jobs boom has weakened as Brexit date comes closer. The number of people out of work rose by 22,000 to just over 1.31 million, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 3.9 per cent from 3.8 per cent.

London Stock Exchange*

Top Performers: CAPITAL & REGIONAL PLC (CAL), HAYS PLC (HAS) and RANK GROUP PLC (RNK) were top gainers and leapt up by 8.16%, 6.40% and 6.14% respectively.

Worst Performers: VESUVIUS PLC (VSVS), ZOTEFOAMS PLC (ZTF) and BODYCOTE PLC (BOY) were the top three losers and dipped by 16.86%, 8.96% and 7.46% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index*

Price Performance in Last Five days (October-15-2019), before the market closed (Chart sourced from Thomson Reuters)

Top Gainers: OCADO GROUP PLC (OCDO), LAND SECURITIES GROUP PLC (LAND) and ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC (RBS) were top performers and edged up by 3.26%, 2.53% and 2.46% respectively.

Top Laggards: EVRAZ PLC (EVR), BHP GROUP PLC (BHP) and FRESNILLO PLC (FRES) were the worst performers and beaten down by 3.02%, 2.34% and 2.30% respectively.

Volume Leaders: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC; (KGF) KINGFISHER PLC.

Top Performing Sectors: Technology (up 1.14%), Utilities (up 1.06%) and Consumer Cyclicals (up 0.23%).

Worst Performing Sectors: Basic Materials (down 1.36%), Healthcare (down 1.33%) and Consumer Non-Cyclicals (down 0.74%).

Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.2765 and 0.8635, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.766%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.699%, respectively.

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*At the time of writing