US and European Equities Rebound in Wednesday’s Session, Driven by Recovery in Oil Prices

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in green - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 48.55 points or 1.77 per cent higher at 2,785.11, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index expanded by 373.60 points or 1.62 per cent higher at 23,392.48, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded higher at 8,441.54, up by 178.31 points or 2.16 per cent against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 11:10 AM ET).

US News: The Wall Street opened higher today as the broken oil market is not dampening the spirits of US investors since President Trump has threatened Iran over harassing American vessels in the Gulf region. Also, Covid-19 infection rates begin to reach a plateau, which gave a sighed relief to investors. Meanwhile, the President also plans 60 days freeze over Green card applications amid the hysterical jobless claims. Adjacently, the Senate approved an additional USD 480 billion of fiscal stimulus to provide economic relief. Among the stocks, Snap soared over 24 per cent, after reporting a substantial gain in daily users and revenue. Similarly, Chipotle surged about 7.6 per cent, post reporting a 103 per cent jump in online sales. Likewise, Facebook surged over 5.6 per cent, post announcing the investment of USD 5.7 billion in Jio platforms (Indian digital technology arm of Reliance Industries). AT&T declined around 1.41 per cent as it reported a dip in first-quarter sales; however, it kept a dividend steady considering strong liquidity position. Delta Air Lines gained around 1.73% as it reported a first-quarter loss at 51 cents per share as against analyst estimates of 70 cents per share. Contrarily, Netflix dropped around 3.76 per cent, post reporting intentions to raise USD 1 billion in debt.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Halliburton Co, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, and Lam Research Corp shares increased by 8.31%, 7.80% and 7.74%, respectively.

Non Performers*: Biogen Inc, Gap Inc and United Airlines Holdings Inc shares decreased by 9.74%, 3.57% and 3.44%, respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: SAExploration Holdings Inc, Peck Company Holdings Inc and Sonim Technologies Inc shares expanded by 122.32%, 117.43% and 83.54%, respectively.

Worst Performers*: VBI Vaccines Inc, Nano Dimension Ltd and Torm PLC shares plunged by 29.49%, 27.18% and 21.59%, respectively.

Top Performing Sectors*: Energy (+3.61%), Basic Materials (+2.68%) and Technology (+2.53%).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: Intel Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and UnitedHealth Group Inc are the top gainers and increased by 4.98%, 3.13% and 2.89%, respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 129.60 points or 2.30 per cent higher at 5,770.63, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 186.89 points or 1.21 per cent higher at 15,586.14, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 65.05 points or 2.09 per cent higher at 3,173.49, respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended up by 5.83 points or 1.80 per cent, at 330.14. Among other major European indices, DAX index closed the session at 10,415.03, up by 165.18 points or 1.61 per cent; CAC 40 index increased by 54.34 points or 1.25 per cent and ended the trading session at 4,411.80.

European News: London and European markets surged with positive corporate updates after the oil price shock yesterday. In other economic news, data from the Office of National Statistics showed that Britain’s inflation rate fell in March amid the tumbled oil price, falling retail prices and escalated health crisis. Adjacently, a study from Kanter research concluded that one-third of British family would require state help to weather the economic turmoil induced by Covid-19 pandemic. Among the stocks, building group CRH rose over 7 per cent post stating an increase in 2019 dividends. Fashion retailer Boohoo surged 4.7 per cent after reporting a recovery in sales growth. Meanwhile, the Drax Group (power producer) soared over 8 per cent post reporting profit in line with expectation despite the economic disruption. Dutch coatings and paints producer Akzo Nobel surged over 7.7 per cent post reporting a jump in first-quarter profits. Contrarily, Beazley dropped around 3.9 per cent after reporting a quarterly loss and dramatic increase in claims.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: PREMIER OIL PLC (PMO), TULLOW OIL PLC (TLW) and DP EURASIA N.V. (DPEU) are top movers and rose by 17.07%, 14.87% and 12.35%, respectively.

Worst Performers*: INTU PROPERTIES PLC (INTU), METRO BANK PLC (MTRO) and ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA GLOBAL HOLDING (AML) plunged by 18.80%, 6.72% and 6.45%, respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

5 days FTSE 100 Index Performance (April-22-2020), before the market closed (Source: TR)

Best Gainers*: INTERMEDIATE CAPITAL GROUP PLC (ICP), ASHTEAD GROUP PLC (AHT) and CRH PLC (CRH) expanded by 7.80%, 7.31% and 5.31%, respectively.

Non Performers*: CENTRICA PLC (CNA), EASYJET PLC (EZJ) and PEARSON PLC (PSON) plunged by 4.82%, 3.54% and 3.31%, respectively.

Shares traded with high-level volume*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC; (BP.) BP PLC.

Top Sectors traded in the positive zone*: Energy (+4.57%), Utilities (+3.09%), and Basic Materials (+2.66%).

Oil Prices*: WTI crude oil future price was nudging at $14.55 per barrel, and Brent crude oil future price was trading at $20.72 per barrel.

Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were hovering at 1.2318 and 0.8781, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was tilting at 0.622%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was hovering at 0.315%, respectively.

*At the time of writing