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European and US stocks edge up ahead of key inflation data

Lucy Harley-McKeown
Updated
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference at the end of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2024. The Reserve voted Wednesday to hold interest rates at a 23-year high, between 5.25 percent and 5.50 percent, for a fifth consecutive meeting, and signaled it still expects to make three rate cuts this year. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
US markets are looking to the release of the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday, a key input in the Fed's decision making and a clue to continuing resilience in the US economy. (MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images)

The FTSE 100 and major indices across Europe rose, as investors digested fresh data including Friday's US jobs report. Looking ahead, there are key data releases in the pipeline including the US CPI on Wednesday.

  • The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was slightly lower in early trade before trading about 0.3% higher by the end of the trading day. Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) and France's CAC (^FCHI) each rose 0.7%.

  • The STOXX 600 (^STOXX), which tracks pan-European stocks, was up 0.4%.

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose slightly. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.3% by the end of the day in London.

  • US markets are looking to the release of the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday, a key input in the Fed's decision making and a clue to continuing resilience in the US economy. Investors will watch for signs that inflation returned to its downward trend in March after signs of stickiness in readings earlier this year.

  • Meanwhile, gold (GC=F) prices continued their ascent, hitting fresh all-time highs of $2,350 an ounce in Asian trading hours. The increase was put down to buying by central banks such as the People's Bank of China and de-dolarisation.

  • The moves also come following more dire news for the UK high street. Mazars' new data on retail showed shop insolvencies jumped by 19% in the past year to 2,195 — a five-year high. The increase comes due to the fact that businesses have been hit by increased costs, cautious customers in a cost of living crisis and higher interest rates making financing more expensive.

  • High profile insolvencies in the past year included Wilko, Ted Baker and The Body Shop.

Follow along for live updates:

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER13 updates
  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    That's all for today

    Thanks for reading! For more market moving news head over to the Yahoo Finance US site.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    A commodities update

    Here's some analysis of commodities today from our friends at IG:

    "While the gold price hit yet another record high and the silver price trades at levels last seen in June 2021, the oil price dropped by over a percent on easing tensions in the Middle East. While Israel is removing troops from Southern Gaza it has also resumed peace talks with Hamas in Egypt."

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Top gainers in the FTSE

    Here's what's leading the FTSE higher on Monday:

    Easyjet (EZJ.L) — up 3.9% ✈️

    Entain (ENT.L) — up 3.9% 🎰

    Rio Tinto (RIO.L) — up 3.7% 🪨

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    US stocks at the open, following Friday's jobs report

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Shell weighs its options with eye on New York

    Oil major Shell's (SHEL.L) CEO made comments on Monday which suggest the company is looking to move its listing from London to New York — a move which could turn out to be a major blow and snub for the City.

    Wael Sawan stressed it is looking at "all options", according to comments reported by the Telegraph. “I have a location that clearly seems to be undervalued," he added.

    Shell is the biggest company in the FTSE 100, and any move may spark fears that industry peers in the mining sector, like Glencore could follow suit.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Trending tickers: Bitcoin

    Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows are anticipated to remain robust leading up to the Bitcoin (BTC-USD) halving, according to analysts.

    Bitcoin halving means the reward for mining bitcoin is cut in half. Halvings reduce the rate at which new coins are created and therefore lower the available amount of new supply. Bitcoin last halved on 11 May 2020, resulting in a block reward of 6.25 BTC. The next halving expected around 20 April will bring the block reward down to 3.125 BTC.

    On-chain analytics firm Santiment said that Bitcoin ETF volume has not slowed down since the asset’s mid-March all-time high.

    “It is a likely foregone conclusion that high activity should continue leading up to the April halving, but it will be interesting to see whether a drop-off in ETF volume and on-chain volume will occur directly afterwards.”

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Here's what US stocks are doing in pre-market trading

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    What to watch in US premarket: Tesla

    Yahoo Finance UK reporter Pedro Goncalves has the latest:

    Shares in Elon Musk’s EV maker were almost 4% higher in premarket trading as the company drops prices in an attempt to clear out its biggest ever inventory stockpile.

    Tesla (TSLA) is cutting rear-wheel-drive Model Y prices by $4,600 (£3,643). The Model Y Long Range and Model Y Performance will see $5,000 price cuts, according to Bloomberg.

    Tesla is offering the deals after producing 46,561 more vehicles than it delivered in the first quarter, adding more cars to inventory than ever before.

    Last quarter, Tesla posted its first annual sales decline since the pandemic — a drop that was significantly worse than expected. The company blamed a weak Chinese economy, arson at its German factory and supply constraints because of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

    The stock has dropped 31% this year, the second-worst showing on the S&P 500 Index (^GSPC).

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Rental costs set to outpace wage growth in UK

    This morning we also have some detail on a new report by think tank the Resolution Foundation:

    • The UK's recent surge in new tenancy rental prices, which have risen by almost a fifth (18%) over the last two years, appears to be cooling. But price inflation in the rental market could still mean an average 13% increase over the next three years.

    • That's according to a new study by think tank the Resolution Foundation, which predicts the increasing cost of renting will continue to outpace wage growth.

    • The study found that the demographic of renters is changing — private renting is no longer the preserve of those in their 20s. The proportion of poorer families headed by someone aged 30-49 that are renting has almost tripled from just 11% in the mid-1990s to nearly 30% in 2021-22.

    READ MORE

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Corporate risk appetite on the up, Deloitte says

    Deloitte's quarterly survey of CFOs is out today and here are the top lines:

    • Sentiment among UK CFOs has risen for the third consecutive quarter;

    • Uncertainty has fallen to a two-and-a-half-year low, back to levels seen in summer 2021 when lockdown restrictions were ending;

    • Corporate risk appetite has risen, but CFOs maintain a defensive strategy stance;

    • Cyber-attacks are the top concern for CFOs when it comes to the consequences of geopolitical developments;

    • More than half of UK CFOs expect geopolitical risks facing their business to increase over the next three years.

    Methodology: 64 CFOs participated, including the CFOs of eight FTSE 100 and 23 FTSE 250 companies. The rest were CFOs of other UK-listed companies, large private companies and UK subsidiaries of major companies listed overseas. The combined market value of the 37 UK-listed companies surveyed is £201bn, or approximately 8% of the UK quoted equity market.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    US markets close Friday on a high

    Stocks finished higher Friday as investors shook off jitters after digesting a strong monthly jobs report, even as uncertainty lingers over the Federal Reserve's path to interest rate cuts.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) put on about 0.8%, or 300 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 1.1% on the heels of its worst single-day fall since February. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained 1.2%.

    Still, last week saw weekly losses for all three major indes as Wall Street interpreted commentary from central bank officials that appeared to sap some confidence.

    As Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer reported, the US labor market continued to impress in March. Employers added 303,000 jobs, much more than economists expected, while the unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.8%. Wage growth also met expectations.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Overnight in Asia: Markets in the green following positive US jobs report

    A better-than-expected US jobs report juiced the numbers in Asian stocks on Monday, with the Nikkei (^N225) up 0.9% in Japan and Hong Kong's Hang Seng (^HSI) rising 0.2%.

    The report showed the economy added 303,000 jobs in March, outstripping expectations of a 200,000 increase. The unemployment rate fell too, from 3.9% to 3.8%.

    Japanese stocks rose despite fresh data that showed wage growth fell in February for a 23rd consecutive month. This will entrench the expectation that its central bank will keep rates on hold again.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Good morning!

    Hello from London. After closing firmly in the red last week, the FTSE 100 looks set to recover a little. Asian markets were mixed overnight. Let's get to it.

Watch: Strong jobs report out Friday with 303,000 jobs added to economy

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