FTSE and US mixed as central banks circle wagons on interest rates

The FTSE and European stocks rose while US markets were mixed as a big week for central bank decisions continues. Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo (Reuters / Reuters)

The FTSE and European stocks made muted moves on Tuesday, and US stocks were mixed, as we head further into a week of central bank decisions across the world.

• The FTSE 100 (^FTSE), DAX (^GDAXI) and CAC (^FCHI) were all broadly flat at the open and continued with small moves as markets opened in the US. By the close, the sentiment had improved, with the FTSE and DAX up 0.2% and the CAC rising 0.5%. The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) rallied 0.2%.

• Across the pond, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.2% in early trade and was up 0.1% by the close in London. The Dow (^DJI) rose 0.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) declined 0.2%.

• The moves come as London traders await Thursday's interest decision by the Bank of England. The institution is expected to hold interest rates at 5.25% as it awaits more data on pay growth and inflation.

• The US Federal Reserve is also poised for its scheduled meeting later on Tuesday. The question in the US is whether policymakers still expect to cut rates three times in 2024. Expectations are for the central bank to keep rates unchanged at a 23-year high in its decision on Wednesday.

• Meanwhile, rates in Japan rose above zero for the first time in 16 years, spelling an end to aggressive monetary policy designed to stimulate growth.

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Thanks for reading!

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 12:30 pm GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Head over to our US site for more market moving news.

Brent crude heads for fifth day of price gains

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 11:54 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Here's IG with the detail on commodities to watch today:

"Oil and natural gas prices rallied between 1% and 3% on supply concerns with Brent crude oil staying on track for its fifth consecutive day of gains. Cocoa prices, which hit record highs and have risen by around 100% year-to-date, are finally stalling but chocolate producers are hoping for a more substantial pullback ahead of Easter."

Ted Baker owner to hire administrators

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 10:51 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Ted Baker's US owner is set to but the business into administration, meaning hundreds of jobs could be on the line.

Authentic Brands said Ted Baker will continue to trade and customer orders will be fulfilled, but that it is in advanced discussions with potential buyers for the brand.

The company has almost 1,000 employees across 46 stores, an e-commerce platform and department store concessions.

And here are US stocks at the open...

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 9:30 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Will they, won't they? Bank of England tipped to hold on rates

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 8:26 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

The latest interest rate decision is set to be announced on Thursday, here's Pedro Goncalves with the latest predictions:

The Bank of England (BoE) is set to keep interest rates unchanged for the fifth time in a row even as new data shows inflation slowing down.

The consensus among traders is that the BoE’s benchmark rate will be kept at 5.25% when its monetary policy committee (MPC) announces its latest decision.

Inflation figures will be published on Wednesday morning and the headline measure of prices, the consumer price index, is expected to show a 3.5% inflation rate, down from 4% in January.

That figure is the lowest inflation rate since September of 2021.

Read more here: Bank of England poised to keep interest rates at 16-year high of 5.25%

US futures ahead of the open

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 8:00 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Here's what US stocks look set to do when they open in an hour and a half:

Reckitt Benckiser still lagging on court ruling

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 6:54 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Reckitt Benckiser (RB), producer of nutrition and health products is leading fallers in the FTSE 100 today, down 4.2% as it continues to reckon with a ruling on Friday in US courts.

Mead Johnson Nutrition, a company that RB acquired back in 2017 for $18bn received the news that it would face paying $60m in damages to a woman whose premature baby died in intensive care after it was fed Enfamil formula.

The claim stems from an allegation that RB failed to warn adequately that consuming the formula could increase the risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC).

Are the chips up for Nvidia?

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 5:49 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Yahoo Finance UK reporter Pedro Goncalves reports:

Nvidia unveiled its latest artificial intelligence (AI) chip which it said it is up to 30 times speedier than its predecessor.

“Blackwell GPUs are the engine to power this new industrial revolution,” said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang at the company’s annual GTC event in San Jose attended by thousands of developers.

“Generative AI is the defining technology of our time. Working with the most dynamic companies in the world, we will realize the promise of AI for every industry,” Huang added in a press release.

Nvidia has an 80% share of the data centre AI chip market and hopes to cement its dominance with this latest chip.

The company is the third-most valuable company in the US, behind only Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple.

Read more: Trending tickers: latest investor updates on Nvidia, Apple, Unilever and Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca to acquire Fusion Pharma

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 5:19 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

AstraZeneca stock is down 0.9% this morning following news of a £1.9bn tie up with clinical-stage oncology group Fusion Pharmaceuticals. The offer to buy the company came at a 126% premium to US-listed Fusion’s Monday closing price so naturally, stock is surging around 94% in premarket.

Unilever leading the FTSE as it announces layoff

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 4:22 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Unilever stock has jumped more than 5.5% as markets opened in London, as it's announced an overhaul of corporate structure and layoffs of about 7,500 of its staff.

It's set to split out its ice cream business which has a different corporate make up to the rest of the organisation, it said. Ice cream brands it owns include Wall’s, Ben and Jerry’s and Magnum.

US stocks' Monday close

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 4:16 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Here's what happened on Monday, from our US team:

Tech stocks jumped on Monday ahead of a key Federal Reserve rate decision, as investors set aside worries about stalled interest rates to focus on hopes around AI developments.

The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) surged 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) added roughly 0.2% as stocks wholly rebounded from recent losses.

Stocks have notched two weeks of declines in a row as hotter-than-expected inflation and other data surprises dented faith in a policy pivot by the Fed.

All eyes are now on the Fed's March meeting starting Tuesday, watching for whether policymakers still expect to cut rates three times in 2024. Expectations are for the central bank to keep rates unchanged at a 23-year high in its decision on Wednesday.

Overnight in Asia

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 4:11 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

As I mentioned in my opening post, the Bank of Japan has put an end to eight years of negative rates, rounding off continued efforts to stimulate the economy which has seen lagging growth. The Nikkei (^N225) closed 0.7% higher on Tuesday, heading above the 40,000 points mark, following the hike from negative 0.1% to 0.1%.

Meanwhile stocks across the rest of Asia fell. The Hang Seng (^HSI) closed down 1.1% and the SSE Composite (000001.SS) was 0.7% lower. The Hang Seng's fall comes following three-month highs last week as strong sentiment returned to markets due to company buybacks.

Korea's KOSPI (^KS11) was also 1.1% lower.

Good morning

Tue, 19 March 2024 at 4:03 am GMT-4, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Hello from London! The biggest headline from overnight appears to be the Bank of Japan's first rate hike since 2006. FTSE futures are lower ahead of the open. Let's get to it.

Watch: Japan ends negative interest rates after eight years