The long holiday weekend in the UK and the US has made for lacklustre trading on Friday. UK markets are closed this Monday for the May bank holiday whilst the US is off for Memorial Day. If not already physically out of the office, traders appear to have mentally checked out. There could well be more action in betting markets on how long newly-appointed Jose Mourinho will last at Manchester United, than in financial markets.
By mid-morning the FTSE 100 was unchanged from yesterday’s closing levels. The Utilities sector was the only area seeing some buoyancy with shares of United Utilities (LON:UU) rising over 1%. A slide in Inmarsat (LON:ISA) shares made telecoms the biggest declining sector.
The British pound dismissed more international interference into Britain’s upcoming EU referendum, this time from the G7. Leaders have said a Brexit would pose a ‘serious risk’ to global growth. Sterling was flat against the euro but saw modest losses against the dollar and the yen.
US stocks look set for an equally flat open. Equity investors appear to be cautiously upbeat ahead of a speech from Fed Chair Yellen at Harvard University and US GDP data, both of which are likely to impact the expected timing of any US rate rise. Ms Yellen’s speech is likely to be a lot more nuanced than other Fed officials and may not give the outright signal for a rate hike dollar-bulls are looking for, which is probably a positive for equities.
USA pre-opening levels
S&P 500: 1 point higher at 2,091
Dow Jones: 9 points higher at 17,837
Nasdaq 100: 9 points higher at 4,496
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