Following confirmation that the Union will remain unchanged, the FTSE has started the day at a roaring pace.
Yesterday saw the equity markets head higher, giving market-watchers a clue as to how the City felt the Scottish referendum voting would go. Now that any last uncertainty has been removed, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Standard Life have shot out of the blocks. A lack of corporate and economic news out today means that it will be interesting to see how much conviction this relief rally really has. Not gaining as many headlines, the mining sector has taken some of the froth off this morning’s moves as commodity prices continue to drift lower following the less-than-anticipated Chinese stimulus.
Asian markets were always going to have first shot at assessing the implications of the referendum on the pound, and overnight trading saw GBP/USD add another 100 pips to yesterday’s move. Although worries that the Bank of England’s timeline for interest rate rises have now lifted, the likelihood of major changes to the constitutional structure of the United Kingdom remain an iceberg on sterling’s radar.
Starting its trading life on the New York Stock Exchange today, Alibaba will take over the mantle as the largest US IPO. IG’s IPO market on Alibaba has seen a 28% premium being added to the $68 IPO price that Jack Ma and his advisers settled on last night. Considering this is a company that will start trading with earnings multiple of 44, it will have to hit the ground running in order to match its hype.
Yesterday saw the equity markets head higher, giving market-watchers a clue as to how the City felt the Scottish referendum voting would go. Now that any last uncertainty has been removed, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Standard Life have shot out of the blocks. A lack of corporate and economic news out today means that it will be interesting to see how much conviction this relief rally really has. Not gaining as many headlines, the mining sector has taken some of the froth off this morning’s moves as commodity prices continue to drift lower following the less-than-anticipated Chinese stimulus.
Asian markets were always going to have first shot at assessing the implications of the referendum on the pound, and overnight trading saw GBP/USD add another 100 pips to yesterday’s move. Although worries that the Bank of England’s timeline for interest rate rises have now lifted, the likelihood of major changes to the constitutional structure of the United Kingdom remain an iceberg on sterling’s radar.
Starting its trading life on the New York Stock Exchange today, Alibaba will take over the mantle as the largest US IPO. IG’s IPO market on Alibaba has seen a 28% premium being added to the $68 IPO price that Jack Ma and his advisers settled on last night. Considering this is a company that will start trading with earnings multiple of 44, it will have to hit the ground running in order to match its hype.
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