Tuesday,16 July 2024 16:41:53

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Tuesday,16 July 2024 at 15:39

UK & European stocks closed lower as investors assess the economic and political outlook in the region and beyond.

The dollar inched away from five-week lows, as investors weighed the case for a September rate cut after comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and pondered rising odds for the re-election of former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Gold prices rose as comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell bolstered the case for a September rate cut, while investors awaited more U.S. economic data for further monetary policy cues.

Oil prices dipped on worries of a slowing Chinese economy crimping demand and despite a growing consensus the U.S. Federal Reserve could begin cutting its key interest rate as soon as September.

In corporate news, shares in Ocado surged after the online grocer and technology company reported narrower interim losses and lifted full-year guidance as revenue grew across all its divisions.

It lifted the full year EBITDA margin at its technology solutions division to mid-teens from previous guidance of more than 10% and also forecast underlying cash flow to improve by £150m from £100m.

The news sent the stock almost 18% higher in early London trade at one point a day after they were hit by a broker downgrade from Bernstein, which changed its rating to ‘underperform’ from ‘outperform’ and cut its price target from 1,000p to 250p.

Losses before tax came in at £154m from a loss of £289.5m for the 26 weeks to June 2. Core earnings more than trebled to £71.2m, while sales were up 12.6% to £1.54bn.

Markets

THE CLOSE

FTSE 100 8,164 (-0.22%)

FTSE 250 21,213 +0.11%

DAX 18,523 (-0.36%)

16:40

Dow Jones 40,810 +1.49%

S&P 500 5,655 +0.42%

NASDAQ 18,471 (-0.01%)

Fixed Income

UK 10-YR YIELD 4.063

Exchange Rates

GBP/USD 1.295

GBP/EUR 1.190

Commodities

Gold $2,463 +1.73%

Brent $83.85 (-1.20%)

Important - No news or research item should be construed as a recommendation to trade. The inclusion of securities within this report does not necessarily imply their suitability for individual portfolios or situations in respect of which further advice should be sought. Information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable but is not warranted to be accurate or complete.