12/03/10

FTSE 100	5617.26, -23.31	Dow	10611.84, +44.51
FTSE 250	9854.44, -10.85	Nasdaq	2368.46, +9.51
FTSE All Share	2871.68, -10.4	S&P 500	1150.24, +4.63
Nikkei	10751.26, +86.31	Hang Seng	21209.74, -18.46
Oil (Crude)	$82.11, +$0.02	Gold	$1108.20, +$0.10
Base Rate	0.5%	10 Yr Gilt	4.15%
£/$	1.511	Euro/Gbp	0.907

Markets

indices finished higher yesterday, following a late rally in financials. The Dow Jones gained 44.51 points to 10,611.84, the S&P 500 added 4.63 points to 1,150.24 and the Nasdaq rose 2,368.46. Economic news was mixed with the Labor Department reporting the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 462,000 from a revised 468,000. Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving unemployment checks for a week or more, rose to 4,558,000, up 37,000. The January trade gap narrowed to $37.3 billion from a revised reading of $39.9 billion. The deficit was expected to widen to $41 billion, according to forecasts. Citigroup led banks higher after Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said the bailed-out bank should be consistently profitable.

The Nikkei climbed 86.31 points to close at 10,751.26 this morning, on optimism the yen will weaken further amid speculation the central bank will loosen monetary policies. The Hang Seng slipped 18.46 points to 21,209.74. China Construction Bank Corp slid after saying it is considering refinancing. HSBC Holdings fell after Goldman Sachs cut the stock to Neutral.

The FTSE 100 fell 23.31 points to close at 5,617.26 yesterday. Heavily weighted mining companies dragged stocks lower as base metal prices fell. Home Retail helped to limit declines after forecasting earnings ahead of analysts’ expectations. Thomas Cook was the biggest percentage riser after saying at an investor presentation that it can achieve an operating profit margin of 5.5% to 6% over the next three to five years. This morning the index is 2.86 points higher at 5,620.12.

Economics

US Retail sales (Feb) 13:30 GMT/ 08:30 EST

Beige Book comments suggest that retail sales were reasonably firm up until the snowstorms hit, but that the blizzards affected activity in a number of areas. Auto sales results appear to show a similar dynamic, and analysts know that unit auto sales fell 4.1%. Analysts expect a combination of weaker auto sales, lower gasoline prices, and bad weather to weigh fairly heavily on sales results, with total retail sales down 0.4% and ex-autos sales down 0.2%. Sales excluding autos and gasoline could be a bit less negative, coming in at -0.1%.

US University of Michigan confidence (Mar, preliminary) 14:55 GMT/ 09:55 EST

February’s 10pts plunge in the Conference Board measure of consumer confidence has not yet been followed by further downward momentum in other sentiment readings (such as the final University of Michigan index or the weekly ABC News survey). The latest Beige Book actually showed some signs of consumer resilience, with sales holding up prior to the mid-February snow storm. Analysts look for March Michigan sentiment to remain steady at 73.5.

US Business inventories (Jan) 15:00 GMT/ 10:00 EST

Analysts know manufacturing inventories rose 0.2% in January. Assuming flat wholesale inventories (not available at the time of writing) and a 0.2% increase in retail inventories, analysts expect total business inventories to rise 0.1%.

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