In mid-morning trading the FTSE is 20 points higher, as excitement surrounding the ECB eclipses the situation in Ukraine.
In London, traders are already focused on Thursday’s ECB meeting. If anybody is going to move the market in this climate it would be Mario Draghi. The meeting between Draghi, the ECB president, and French president Francois Hollande yesterday, suggested that both men are on the same page when it comes to the eurozone’s finances. The tension between Ukraine and Russia remains but the story has been put on the back burner for now. Unless there is flare up in violence we are unlikely to see stocks react. Mark Carney is right to be worried about the British property market — the UK construction PMI jumped to 64 in August. Homebuilder Redrow posted a 91% rise in full-year pre-tax profits, and the stock is up 1% today.
Things are heating up north of the border; the gap between the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ vote is narrowing but our market suggests that there is an 81% chance of a ‘No’ vote. However, that has come back from an 85% chance before the latest YouGov poll. Alibaba is gearing up for its stock market listing which could be as soon as 18 September. Our grey market suggests a market capitalisation of $214 billion, up 4% from yesterday as the IPO looms.
In the US, we are expecting the Dow to open higher after being shut yesterday due to Labor Day. We are calling the Dow up 34 points at 17,132.
In London, traders are already focused on Thursday’s ECB meeting. If anybody is going to move the market in this climate it would be Mario Draghi. The meeting between Draghi, the ECB president, and French president Francois Hollande yesterday, suggested that both men are on the same page when it comes to the eurozone’s finances. The tension between Ukraine and Russia remains but the story has been put on the back burner for now. Unless there is flare up in violence we are unlikely to see stocks react. Mark Carney is right to be worried about the British property market — the UK construction PMI jumped to 64 in August. Homebuilder Redrow posted a 91% rise in full-year pre-tax profits, and the stock is up 1% today.
Things are heating up north of the border; the gap between the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ vote is narrowing but our market suggests that there is an 81% chance of a ‘No’ vote. However, that has come back from an 85% chance before the latest YouGov poll. Alibaba is gearing up for its stock market listing which could be as soon as 18 September. Our grey market suggests a market capitalisation of $214 billion, up 4% from yesterday as the IPO looms.
In the US, we are expecting the Dow to open higher after being shut yesterday due to Labor Day. We are calling the Dow up 34 points at 17,132.
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