Equities at the Wallstreet were trading in red, with the broader index S&P 500 index was quoting at 2,936.13 and declined by 6.57 points or 0.22% against the previous day close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index was trading 16.12 points or 0.06% lower at 26,538.27, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite Index was quoting at 8,087.14 and declined by 74.71 points or 0.92% against the previous day close, at the time of writing.
Labour Department on Tuesday reported that U.S. labour costs increased steadily in the first quarter as employment cost index, the broadest measure of labour costs, rose by 0.7 per cent. This points to moderate inflation pressure amid a tightening labour market. Recent good-run in Wall Street paused following a decline in the shares of Alphabet. Due to further involuntary declines in sanctions-hit Iran and Venezuela, OPEC oil supply hit a four-year low in April, down 90,000 bpd from March.
At the closing bell, the FTSE 100 index stood lower by 22.44 points (down 0.30%) to 7,418.22 and the STOXX 600 closed higher by 0.03 points (up 0.01%) to 391.35. The FTSE 250 index ended the day down by 0.43% to 19,824.81 and the FTSE All-Share index ended the day down by 0.30% to 4,067.98.
The governing body of Labour Party, the main opposition party, is meeting today to decide its position on whether to demand a second referendum on any Brexit deal as one of its campaign promises for the upcoming European elections. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned Theresa May against accepting Labour's demand of customs union with the EU, as such a deal would mean fewer conservative lawmakers backing a deal in Parliament.
The top gainer shares were NORCROS PLC (NXR), HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC (HSW), and ALLIED MINDS PLC (ALM) which surged by 7.50 per cent, 7.38 per cent and 7.27 per cent respectively. Shares in a downtrend during the day were: SIRIUS MINERALS PLC (SXX), ELEMENTIS PLC (ELM) and COUNTRYWIDE PLC (CWD) which decreased by 20.46 per cent, 8.24 per cent and 7.67 per cent respectively.
FTSE100 Index: 5-days Price Chart as on April 30, 2019. (Source: Thomson Reuters)
Top performers were STANDARD CHARTERED PLC (STAN), HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS PLC (HIK) and HALMA PLC (HLMA) which rose by 4.57 per cent, 2.23 per cent and 1.38 per cent respectively. The top laggards were WHITBREAD PLC (WTB), SMURFIT KAPPA GROUP PLC (SKG) and SMITH (DS) PLC (SMDS), which declined by 6.18 per cent, 4.26 per cent and 4.21 per cent respectively. Shares traded on Tuesday with high volumes were Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY), VODAFONE GROUP PLC (VOD) and GLENCORE PLC (GLEN). Sectors traded in green were Energy, Consumer Non-Cyclicals and Utilities. Sectors traded in red were Basic Materials, Consumer Cyclicals and Healthcare.
FX Rates*
- GBP/USD was exchanging at 1.3038.
- EUR/GBP was exchanging at 0.8606.
10-Year Bond Yields*
- US 10Y Treasury Bond yield was hovering at 2.507 per cent.
- UK 10Y Bond yield was quoting at 1.173 per cent.
*At the time of writing
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