Pre-election tensions are running high, not only in the UK political arena but also in the markets. The FTSE 100 opened a fraction higher but then slipped into the red as more UK-focused stocks such as Auto Trader Group (LON:AUTOA), Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) lost ground.
The top faller, however, was JD Sports (LON:JD). The firm’s largest shareholder Pentland Group sold around 24 million shares in the company causing a wider selloff that resulted in a 9.16% decline in the share price. Firmer share prices for miners and pharma companies slowed down the FTSE’s decline.
Pound nudges lower on doubts over a clear win
Less than 24 hours to go until the polling stations open and the pound is losing a little bit of ground to the dollar. Last minute headlines have slightly eroded the Conservative lead over Labour, bringing with it the prospect of a hung Parliament, and lurking in the shadows, the implied deadlock over Brexit.
Oil corrects slightly while Aramco (SE:2222) soars at IPO
Brent crude has moved up to trade in a slightly higher channel since the OPEC meeting last week but this morning prices have slipped to the bottom of the new range, just above $64.
The long-awaited listing of Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco (SE:2222) on the Riyadh stock exchange went with a bang as shares soared and reached their 10% daily limit early in the session. For the moment Aramco will play a positive role for oil prices but the bigger crunch will come next week when the US has to decide on new China tariffs.
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