The FTSE 100 and European stocks were higher as investors got another hint that the Bank of England will is done with raising interest rates. Investors are also waiting for remarks from US Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) bounced back and rose 0.73% to close at 7,455 points, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris climbed 1.11% to 7,112 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) gained 0.72% to 15,339. The Stoxx 600 (STOXX) advanced 0.84%, after touching a three-week high intraday in the prior session.
Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill has suggested that holding interest rates at their current level will be enough to bring down inflation to the 2% target within two years.
Read more: Interest rates – No more rises needed to tackle inflation, says BoE chief economist
Across the pond, Wall Street stocks were higher on Thursday, as investors kept an eye on Federal Reserve policymakers for more clues to interest-rate strategy.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) hovered just above the flat line at 34,115 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.10% to 4,385 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) climbed about 0.1% to 13,653 points.
The S&P 500 is heading towards its ninth straight day of gains. It’s the most consecutive straight days of gains since November 2021.
Investors await Powell’s remarks at 19h00 GMT after he refrained from commenting on monetary policy on Wednesday.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker told a conference in Evanston, Illinois, that he felt holding interest rates at their current, restrictive, level was the right course of action.
“A decrease in the policy rate is not something that is likely to happen in the short term,” he said.
In Asia, the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong lost 0.29% to 17,518 while the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) finished flat at 3,053 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) finished higher, rising 1.49% to 32,646 points.
China slipped back into deflation in October, official figures showed, as falling pork prices delivered a blow to the world’s second largest economy.
Read more: Trending tickers: Disney | Arm | Astrazeneca | S4 Capital
Government data showed October consumer prices shrank 0.2% year-on-year in China, more than the 0.1% fall expected by economists polled by Reuters. Producer prices declined 2.6%, slightly smaller than the expected decline of 2.7%.
The drop in China’s CPI was partly due to cheaper food prices – pork, for example, cost 30% less than a year ago, with an oversupply of pigs and weak demand making this popular staple cheaper.
Meanwhile, Brent crude recovered slightly after falling more than 4% on Tuesday to levels not seen since July as China’s exports dropped for a sixth straight month, underscoring a slowdown in global demand.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) is trading at $75.84 per barrel. Brent (BZ=F) crude futures rose 0.73% to $80.12 per barrel.
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The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week as the labor market continued to show few signs of a significant slowdown.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Nov. 4 from an upwardly revised 220,000 in the prior week the Labor Department reported.
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Trending tickers: latest investor updates on Disney, Arm, Astrazeneca and S4 Capital
The latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Thursday.
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The number of people falling behind on their mortgage payments rose sharply over the summer, figures from the banking sector show.
UK Finance has reported that there were 87,930 homeowner mortgages in arrears of at least 2.5% of their outstanding balance, in the third quarter of this year.
That’s a 7% increase compared to April-June 2023, and shows that some households aren’t able to meet their mortgage payments following the steady increase in UK interest rates since the end of 2021.
630 homeowner mortgaged properties were taken into possession in the third quarter of 2023, 9% fewer than in the previous quarter.
450 buy-to-let mortgaged properties were taken into possession in the last quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter.
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Drivers were hit by “significant increases” in fuel retailers’ margins during the past two months, according to a report.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that by the end of October the differences between pump prices and the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel were “significantly above the long-term average”.
It added: “If retail spreads were to remain at these levels for much longer, this would cause concern about the intensity of retail competition in the sector.”
The RAC said the findings were “very disappointing” and demonstrate that “drivers are still being taken advantage of at the pumps”.
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Digital marketing firm S4 capital (SFOR.L) has slashed earnings forecast yet again, sending shares tumbling by over 20%.
Martin Sorrell’s digital ad group reported a 10% drop in third-quarter net like-for-like revenue and cut its full-year earnings margin guidance to 10-11%, which it already reduced to 12-13.5% in September.
Revenues at the advertising agency were almost a fifth lower year on year at £245.9n, while billings from clients were down 7% at £450.3mn.
Sorrell said trading in the third quarter was “difficult, reflecting the global macroeconomic conditions”.
The company has now lost more than two-thirds of its value since the beginning of the year after multiple profit warnings.
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Gambling giant Flutter (FLTR.L) dropped 9% to the bottom of blue-chip index, as it said earnings excluding the US market would be at the bottom of previous targets.
The Paddy Power and Betfair also announced plans to delist from the stock market in Dublin when it adds a New York listing in the first quarter of 2024.
On Thursday, the company told shareholders it saw gaming growth drive a 13% increase in total revenues to £2.03bn for the third quarter of 2023. Customer-friendly sports results and weak horse racing in Australia hit earnings.
Gaming revenues soared by 26% for the period, offsetting slower growth in its sports business, which recorded a 4% rise.
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Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill has suggested that holding interest rates at their current level will be enough to bring down inflation to the 2% target within two years.
“Having established monetary policy in restrictive territory, it’s not the case that we need to raise rates in order to bear down on inflation. Sustaining rates at their current restrictive level will continue to bear down on inflation,” Pill said in a presentation to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
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Six of Britain’s biggest gas and electricity suppliers will pay out £10.8 million to the energy watchdog after failing to meet the first annual target under a government push to install smart meters across the UK.
Ofgem said British Gas, Ovo, Bulb, E.On, Scottish Power and SSE fell short of the target for 2022 by more than a million smart meters – the first of the Government’s four-year plan launched in January 2022.
They have agreed to pay the redress into Ofgem’s fund to help vulnerable households, with British Gas paying out the most, at £3.4 million, followed by Ovo at £2.4m and Bulb, which was bought out of administration by Octopus in December 2022, at £1.8m.
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WH Smith (SMWH.L) has revealed sales jumped by more than a quarter over the past year as it was boosted by the continued recovery of the travel industry and new openings.
The company said it also saw its profits almost double as it benefitted from a higher numbers of travellers at airports and train stations.
WH Smith reported a headline pre-tax profit of £143m in the year to August 31, compared with £73m a year earlier.
Watch: Markets in 3 Minutes: Powell Only Has Tactical Relevance Today
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Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
