US and European Market Roundup In Thursday’s Trading Session

US Markets: Broader indexes in the United States were trading in green, with the S&P 500 index traded 15.35 points or 0.47% higher at 3,268.40, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index accelerated by 132.83 points or 0.46% higher and quoting at 28,877.92 and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded higher at 9,199.74 and was up by 70.50 points or 0.77% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at ET 10:20 AM).

US News: On 9^th January 2020, US Stocks mostly opened in the green, as news sources reported that labour market seemed to be cooling down, while President Donald Trump’s statement also suggested a de-escalation attempt in the US-Iran conflict. Bed Bath and Beyond stocks dropped massively by 12 per cent, as the retailer reported its earnings, which were short on the expectations of the market. Kohls Corp also reported a decline in sales for the months of November and December, which led to its shares shedding 0.2 per cent. JC Penny Company shares were down by 3.3 per cent, following a surprise 7.5 per cent decline in sales during the festive period. HP Inc stocks were up by 1.1 per cent, after attempts of takeover by Xerox Corporation were turned down by the board of the company. Tesla shares were up by 1 per cent, opening in the green, for a second day running, after its market capitalisation left behind the market cap of rival General Motors on the previous day.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Advanced Micro Devices Inc, NVIDIA Corp, and Align Technology Inc are top gainers and increased by 2.20%, 1.67% and 1.67% respectively.

Worst Performers*: DXC Technology Co, Cigna Corp, and eBay Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 2.17%, 1.14% and 1.05% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: Applied Genetic Technologies Corp, Peck Company Holdings Inc, and Proteon Therapeutics Inc are top gainers and increased by 54.09%, 28.10% and 23.44% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Therapix Biosciences Ltd, Solid Biosciences Inc, and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 21.50%, 15.58% and 13.69% respectively.

Top Performing Sectors*: Technology (up 1.19%), Consumer Cyclicals (up 0.73%) and Telecommunications Services (up 0.69%).

Worst Performing Sectors*: Utilities (down 0.27%) and Basic Materials (down 0.15).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Apple Inc, and Microsoft Corp are top gainers and increased by 1.75%, 1.58% and 1.21% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Verizon Communications Inc, Exxon Mobil Corp, and UnitedHealth Group Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 0.25%, 0.23% and 0.19% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 23.19 points or 0.31% higher at 7,598.12, the FTSE 250 index snapped 8.85 points or 0.04% lower at 21,643.07, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 10.33 points or 0.25% higher at 4,213.77 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended at 419.64, up by 1.28 points or 0.31 per cent.

European News: In economic news, the outgoing governor of Bank of England Mark Carney on 9 January 2020 in a statement has stated that the central bank could resort to still further rate cuts if weakness in the British economy continues to persist. His statement comes on the heels of two of the nine members of the banks interest rate committee members voting to cut interest rates from the current 0.75 per cent to 0.05 per cent. The British economy in the past year has grown the weakest since 2012 and despite the overall optimism after Prime Minister Boris Johnsons rally back to power, many of the important economic indicators still continue to reel under weakness. Following his comments, the British pound sterling feel sharply to a near two weeks low against the US Dollar. Paula Nickolds  the chief of John Lewis & Partners,   operators of  high-end department stores across Great Britain has quit today by mutual agreement, one month before a proposed management structure. This comes amidst the warning given by the company that it might not tender out bonuses to its employees this year on account of falling profits.

London Stock Exchange (LSE)

Leading Performers of the Day*: NMC HEALTH PLC (NMC), GALLIFORD TRY HOLDINGS PLC (GFRD) and LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC (LIO) were on the bright spot and rose by 6.44%, 6.33% and 5.83% respectively.

Worst Performers of the Day*: CARD FACTORY PLC (CARD), SIG PLC (SIG) and MARKS & SPENCER GROUP PLC (MKS) are the major laggards and declined by 28.27%, 20.60% and 10.27% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

FTSE-100 index performance in the previous five days (as on January 09, 2020), before the market closed. (Source: Thomson Reuters (TR))

Top Stocks of the Day*: NMC HEALTH PLC (NMC), EVRAZ PLC (EVR), and BURBERRY GROUP PLC (BRBY) were in the bright spot and leapt up by 6.44%, 2.96% and 2.48% respectively.

Worst Stocks of the Day*: OCADO GROUP PLC (OCDO), KINGFISHER PLC (KGF), and LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC (LLOY) were the beaten-down stocks at the broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 and decelerated by 2.85%, 2.14% and 1.31% respectively.

Top Volume Gainers of the Day*: LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC (LLOY), VODAFONE GROUP PLC (VOD), and TAYLOR WIMPEY PLC (TW.).

Elite Performing Sectors of the Day*: Telecommunications Services (up 1.49%), Industrials (up 1.13%), and Healthcare (up 0.90%).

Worst Performing Sectors of the Day*: Basic Materials (down 0.48%), Utilities (down 0.20%), and Energy (down 0.06%).

Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were quoting at 1.3055 and 0.8508, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was quoting at 1.862%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.809%, respectively.

*At the time of writing