What All You Need To Know About The FTSE’s Performance On March 20, 2019?

London’s broader equity benchmark FTSE 100 index ended 32.99 points lower against its previous close, with Healthcare and Technology were top performing sectors on the FTSE 100 index in the Wednesday’s session.[optin-monster-shortcode id="wxhmli4jjedneglg1trq"]

Global Updates: Shares in the United States were quoting mix in the Wednesday’s session, with Dow Jones (.DJI) index declined by 137.03 points or 0.53% at 25,750.35, S&P 500 Index was quoting at 2,826.42, decreased by 6.15 points or 0.22% and the technology benchmark Nasdaq Composite index rose by 8.08 points or 0.10% to 7,731.58 respectively.

Federal Bank decided to keep interest rate unchanged, in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, and said it would stop its balance-sheet reduction programme in September, as widely expected by investors. Moreover, in an unexpected news, Fed signalled that no rate hikes would be appropriate for 2019.

Brexit Updates: The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has approved an application for an emergency debate by Keir Starmer, Labour's Shadow Brexit Secretary, on the Brexit delay. If the discussion goes to a vote and is passed by MPs, it would force Theresa May to change her letter to the EU and will have to settle with a longer Brexit extension, rather than a short one.

European Market Updates: European broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 ended 32.99 points or 0.45% lower against its previous day close at 7,291.01, FTSE 250 index ended 162.31 points or 0.83% lower at 19,388.98, and the FTSE All-Share index lost 20.10 points or 0.50% in the Wednesday's session and closed at 3,993.50. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended 3.45 points or 0.90% lower against its last day’s close at 380.84.

In Wednesday’s session, FTSE 100 declined after Theresa May asked the European Union to delay Brexit, putting a halt to index’s seven-day winning streak. House price growth has slumped to its lowest level since 2013, falling to 1.7 per cent, from 2.2 per cent in December. A decline in sterling caused a decline in mid-cap.

London Stock Exchange Cues

Top Performers: Stocks like INMARSAT PLC (ISAT), ENQUEST PLC (ENQ) and TI FLUID PLC (TIFS) were among the top performers on the London Stock Exchange and were up by 13.13 per cent, 12.21 per cent and 12.11 per cent respectively.

Top Losers: Stocks like KIER GROUP PLC (KIE), CLARKSON PLC (CKN) and JUST GROUP PLC (JUST) were among the top losers on the London Stock Exchange and were down by 11.28 per cent, 7.38 per cent, and 6.67 per cent respectively.

Broader Market FTSE 100 Cues

Gainers: Stocks like DCC PLC (DCC), GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC (GSK) and SMURFIT KAPPA GROUP PLC (SKG) were among the top gainers in the Wednesday’s session on the broader equity benchmark FTSE 100 index and were up by 1.68 per cent, 1.42 per cent, and 1.40 per cent respectively.

Laggards: Stocks like KINGFISHER PLC (KGF), PERSIMMON PLC (PSN) and TAYLOR WIMPEY PLC (TW) were among the top laggards on the FTSE 100 index in the Wednesday’s session and were down by 6.36 per cent, 4.03 per cent, and 3.46 per cent respectively.

Top Active Volume Movers: Stocks like LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC (LLOY), VODAFONE GROUP PLC (VOD), and BARCLAYS PLC (BARC) were among the top active volume stocks on the FTSE 100 Index.

Sector Performance: Sectors like Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Non-Cyclicals were among the top performing sectors on the FTSE 100 index and on the other hand sectors like Consumer Cyclicals, Industrials and Basic Materials were among the laggards on the broader equity benchmark FTSE 100 index in the Wednesday’s market session.

Commodity Cues*

• Brent Crude was trading at $68.40 per barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate was quoting at $60.12 per barrel.
• Gold was quoting at $1313.55 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange Cues

Closing Price (as on Mar-19-2019)

• LME Aluminium was quoting at $1,907.50 per tonne.
• LME Lead was quoting at $2,017.50 per tonne.

Forex Cues*

• Currency Pair GBP/USD was quoting at 1.3212.
• Currency Pair EUR/GBP was quoting at 0.8651.

Money Market Cues*

• US 10Y Treasury Bond yield was quoting lower at 2.530% in Wednesday’s session.
• UK 10Y Bond yield was quoting lower at 1.146% in Wednesday’s session.

*At the time of writing

Â