Equity markets in Europe have bounced back today after losing ground over the last week. The selling pressure that was on global equities recently has waned, and we are now seeing some short covering and bargain hunting.
GKN (LON:GKN) shares gapped lower after the company announced the departure of Kevin Cummings, who was meant to take over as CEO from Nigel Stein. Mr Cummings was only at the company two months, and the quick departure has shaken investor confidence. The company anticipates to write-off between £80 and £130 million in relation to its aerospace business. Last month the company announced a write-down of £15 million at its Aerospace division. Investors are cautious whenever a company has a couple of write-downs in quick succession for fear it could snowball. The share price has been falling since March, and if the bearish sentiment continues it could target 250p.
Shares in Royal Mail (LON:RMG) opened higher and then quickly sold off after the company stated that profits after tax nearly doubled. The jump in profits was largely due to £106 million win fall from the tax office for closing the pension plan. The company makes the bulk of its money from delivering letters and parcels in the UK – and that department saw revenues remain largely unchanged. Whereas the international unit saw revenues jump by 9%. The share price has been losing ground since June 2016, and it could retest the 370p area.
Aveva Group (LON:AVV) shares are trading at 2571p, up 2% today after JP Morgan upgraded the stock from neutral to overweight, and upped their price target from 2800p to 3200p.
GBP/USD rose up after the UK announced retail sales figures that ticked up in October. The report showed an increase of 0.3%, while the consensus was for a rise of 0.1%. The September figure was revised from -0.8% to -0.7%. It may be only a small increase, it’s a step in the right direction.
EUR/USD is lower on the day as a broad rally in the US dollar is hurting the single currency. On a year-on-year basis, eurozone CPI fell to 1.4% from 1.5%, meeting estimates.
We are expecting the Dow Jones to open up 84 points at 23,355, and we are calling the S&P 500 up 10 points at 2574.
At 1.30pm (UK time) the US will announce the initial jobless claims report, and the consensus is for a reading of 235,000, and that would be a fall from last week’s 239,000 reading.
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Gap (NYSE:GPS) will announce their quarterly figures today.
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