Wednesday,04 September 2024 16:21:33

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Wednesday,04 September 2024 at 15:40

UK and European stocks finished in negative territory although they finished well off their earlier lows after Wall street recovered in morning trade following hefty losses on Tuesday.

The decline in the region’s markets comes after the major U.S. averages kick started September lower (U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday), with the S&P 500 clocking its worst day since the early August global rout.

Gold prices hit a two-week low, before recovering in afternoon trade, as a sharp sell-off in equities forced a rush to cover margin calls, adding pressure on bullion ahead of keenly awaited non-farm payrolls data due later this week.

Brent crude slipped below $74 per barrel, after Libya’s rival governments reached a deal to appoint a governor to Libya’s central bank, which would resolve the dispute that prompted the shutdown of oil fields and export terminals last month. The shutdowns had decimated the country’s output of some 1.2 million barrels daily.

The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc firmed against the dollar as investors scurried to safer assets after a sharp selloff on Wall Street in the prior session sparked by concerns about the U.S. economy and tech sector valuations.

In market news:

House builder Barratt reported a 75% plunge in annual profit, citing cost-of-living pressures, much higher mortgage rates and limited consumer confidence.The company said pre-tax profit slumped to £170.5m from £705m, with completions down 18.6% to 14,000, although this was at the upper end of expectations

Segro declined after saying it had agreed to buy rival Tritax EuroBox in a deal with an implied enterprise value of around £1.1bn including debt.

Direct Line Insurance Group declined 1.5% after the British insurer missed expectations for its half-year operating profit as it struggles to reinvigorate its business, particularly its motor insurance arm.

Markets

16.35

FTSE 100 8,269 (-0.35%)

FTSE 250 20,785 (-0.11%)

DAX 18,607 (-0.74%)

16.35

Dow Jones 41,100 +0.40%

S&P 500 5,542 +0.24%

NASDAQ 17,185 +0.29%

Fixed Income

UK 10-YR YIELD 3.924%

Exchange Rates

GBP/USD 1.314

GBP/EUR 1.186

Commodities

Gold $2,496 +0.17%

Brent $73.29 (-0.53%)

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.