UK Market Comments

Heading into the close the FTSE 100 is down five points at 6803 as the Salmond shakedown continues.

UK markets

We are now in the final stretch of the Scottish referendum and the pressure remains on RBS and Lloyds. If there is one thing the markets don’t like it is uncertainty, and nothing could be more uncertain than the outcome of the referendum. As the future of the UK hangs in the balance international traders are staying clear of British stocks as the state may have one less nation by the end of the week. IG's binary is indicating a 21% change in the referendum, with voters favouring independence. Over the past week the ‘No’ vote took the lead in the polls but our binary remains very much divided on the outcome.

US markets

In the US, the Dow is up seven points at 16,995 and traders are treading lightly ahead of the Fed meeting on Wednesday. QE is no longer of interest as many will be looking for signs to when rates will rise. We are offering a binary bet on the Alibaba IPO, and our grey market suggests a market capitalisation of $215 billion. The Chinese e-commerce giant will float on the NYSE on Friday and we are only days away from a possible record flotation.

Commodities

The price of copper has been crushed again after China’s industrial output dropped. Traders are now starting to wonder if China will be able to achieve its full-year growth target? Falling house prices and manufacturing levels, coupled with less liquid capital pools are weighing on the Asian giant. Gold is trading higher today but there is no reason to jump for joy after the dreadful run the metal has had since the start of the month.

FX

Sterling continues to slide as the weight of the Scottish question clips away at the pound's recent comeback. The polls continue to show a narrow lead for the ‘Better Together’ campaign, but traders are holding out until a ‘No’ vote is secured before touching the pound again. The euro may be out of the spotlight but the declines continue. The single currency has made no attempt to gain back the ground it lost to the ECB rate cut at the start of the month.