A brief look at last week and the week ahead, the Weekly Review from IG Index.
Weekly Trading Report 8 February 2010 - Last Week's Trading Highlights
Last week proved something of a false dawn for the FTSE 100, with the promise of a rebound dashed by a drop in the second half of the week to levels not seen since early November 2009.
Both the FTSE and Dow plummeted more than 2% on Thursday, in the wake of higher-than-expected US weekly jobless claims and concerns about the state of European debts.
Poor performance from the energy sector throughout the week didn’t help matters, with Exxon Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group all seeing profits hurt by falling energy prices.
The week was book ended by reports from Ryanair and BA, whose respective yearly and quarterly losses each shrank more than expected.
After the UK’s recent crawl clear of recession, Monday's manufacturing PMI revealed more positive indicators of an economy on the rise.
Factory activity for January grew at its fastest rate for 15 years, while car sales for the month were also up (+29.8% year-on-year) for the month.
House prices rose too – Thursday's Halifax figures showed a 0.6% monthly increase on December's level.
The Bank of England decided on Thursday to discontinue its quantitative easing programme, but held interest rates at 0.5% against fears of a double-dip recession.
Vodafone was upbeat on Thursday, with the world's biggest mobile phone company showing a 10% revenue increase in Q4 2009 from the previous quarter.
GlaxoSmithKline also saw a rise in profit, but future restructuring plans and an emphasis on the need to cut costs raised fears of job losses.
Across the Atlantic, US drugs giant Pfizer's midweek quarterly report missed estimates, dragging the Dow Jones lower.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, Swiss pharmaceutical Roche revealed similarly poor results for the year, with a 22% drop in profit despite positive sales of swine flu shot Tamiflu.
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Weekly Trading Report 8 February 2010 - The Week Ahead
Indicators
It’s an important week at home, with industrial and manufacturing data midweek preceded by Tuesday’s trade balance.
Look out also for the NIESR’s GDP estimate on Wednesday, and the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report the following day.
In the US, all eyes will be trained on the Federal Reserve’s Treasury budget report and trade balance data on Wednesday, and January’s initial retail figures
Company Results and Reports
The week sees yet another busy roster of firms reporting. Look out for half-year figures from mining giant BHP Billiton on Wednesday, while fellow blue-chip miner Rio Tinto, along with Rolls-Royce, announces annual results on Thursday.
Over the Atlantic, soft drink heavyweights Coca-Cola and PepsiCo announce quarterlies, along with Walt Disney on Tuesday and McAfee on Wednesday, respectively.
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For previous weeks see below.
Note - Spread Betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and you can lose more than your initial investment, it may not be suitable for all investors. Ensure you only speculate with money that you can afford to lose and that you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.
'Financial Spread Betting 8 February 2010', Review by D. Jones, last update: 8-Feb-10
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