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Trending tickers: Alibaba, Bitcoin, SoftBank and Diploma

The latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Monday

Europe mixed and US stocks fall as rate cut hopes fade for 2024

Lucy Harley-McKeown
Updated
ftse FILE PHOTO: Traders work, as a screen shows Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's news conference after the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rates announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 30, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's words will be closely watched for any change in the mantra that policymakers need to be convinced inflation is conquered before any move. The FTSE was down. (REUTERS / Reuters)

The FTSE 100 and US stocks declined on Tuesday, falling as gloomy data was published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) on how retail sales fared in February and US rate cut hopes took a knock.

  • The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was almost flat by the closing bell. Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) was 0.2% lower and the CAC in Paris (^FCHI) lost 0.4%. The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) ticked 0.3% lower.

  • US stocks were on the back foot heading into Tuesday, pulling back from recent all-time highs, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC), Dow (^DJI) and Nasdaq (^IXIC) 0.9%, 0.7% and 1.7% lower respectively.

  • Hopes for coming rate cuts by the Federal Reserve took a knock after comments by policymaker Raphael Bostic. The Atlanta Fed president said he sees just one rate cut this year, penciled in for the third quarter.

  • Investors are now even more focused on Fed chair Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress on Wednesday. His words will be closely watched for any change in the mantra that policymakers need to be convinced inflation is conquered before any move.

  • Earlier in the session, stocks across Europe fell amid mixed news for the UK high street. The BRC revealed retail sales fell short of expectations, with a flat 1% year-on-year increase, missing the 1.5% mark expected by the market.

Follow along for live updates

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER15 updates
  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Thanks for reading!

    Head over to Yahoo Finance US for more market moving stories.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Meta are 'aware' of the problems

    The company's comms person speaks:

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Trouble at Facebook?

    Facebook and Instagram appear to be down, according to reports to Downdetector.

    Parent Meta's stock price seems to be struggling too as the US heads into its third hour of trade...

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Bitcoin hits previous peak

    What the chart above shows is bitcoin heading to highs not seen since 2021.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    US manufacturing data exceeds expectations

    Here's Livesquawk with the data:

    Worth remembering that anything higher than 50 indicates growth in this index.

    Meanwhile it's a mixed picture for US services:

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Gold vs Bitcoin

    Noelle Acheson's newsletter Crypto is Macro Now has an interesting comparison between how bitcoin and gold are performing. While the largest cryptocurrency takes a little breather, here's what gold is doing:

    "Gold, on the other hand, continues to climb, and is now consistently trading at or close to all-time closing highs, reaching $2,127/oz earlier today."

    Here's what Acheson has to say about that:

    Comparing gold’s performance to that of BTC is still like comparing a bicycle to a bullet train, however. Year-to-date, gold is up just over 3% while BTC clocks in with an eye-watering 58%. A more interesting takeaway is that this run-up in both is with the US fed funds rate still over 5%, and with rate cut expectations being pushed further and further back.

    What’s more, and this is notable, gold’s run-up is happening against a backdrop of ETF outflows, while BTC’s is largely propelled by ETF inflows.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    US indexes premarket

    Here's what the US is doing ahead of market open

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    What will the spring budget bring?

    We've got some more detail today on what to expect in tomorrow's budget.

    First up from my colleague Pedro Goncalves, one for the petrol heads:

    The top lines: Jeremy Hunt is to extend a 5p cut in fuel duty for another year at a cost of £5bn, according to reports.

    The 5p per litre cut is due to run out in March 2024 and if it were not extended, fuel duty would be set to return to its frozen rate of 57.95p per litre.

    Hunt is also expected to scrap an inflation-linked rise in fuel duty — extending a freeze that began in 2011.

    Meanwhile, a potential income tax cut is on the cards. Another from Pedro:

    The top lines: Jeremy Hunt will knock two percentage points off national insurance (NI) for 27 million British workers in his budget statement on Wednesday, in a move that will cost £10bn.

    The cut to national insurance contributions will be the key measure of Hunt's budget after he decided against cutting income tax because of the tight fiscal room for manoeuvre available to him, according to The Times.

    We also have some detail on a rumoured change to mortgages, by mortgage experts:

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Stocks to watch

    Here are the stocks to watch ahead of market open in the US: Bitcoin, Tesla, Apple

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    UK M&A in decline?

    Fresh data released this morning by the ONS suggests declining rates of M&A deals.

    It states: In Q4 2023, the total combined number of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving a change in majority share ownership was 367; this was 33 transactions fewer than the previous quarter (400).

    Despite the fact there was an overall dip in takeovers, the value of deals featuring foreign companies acquiring UK firms ballooned: The value of inward M&A (foreign companies acquiring UK companies) in Q4 2023 was £8.6bn, £3.3bn higher than the previous quarter (£5.3bn).

    What's more: In Q4 2023, the total value of outward M&A (UK companies acquiring foreign companies) was £3.2bn, £1.1bn higher than the previous quarter (£2.1bn).

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Ashtead drags down FTSE 100

    Ashtead Group (AHT.L) is the worst performer in the FTSE 100 this morning, as the equipment rental group said its full-year results will come in at the low end of its guidance. The knock comes due to a slowdown in North America, as fewer natural disasters have buffeted the country.

    Stock was around 6.9% lower in early trade.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    February retail sales "very limp"

    February for the UK high street has been branded "very limp" as UK retail sales fell short of expectations, with a flat 1% year-on-year increase, missing the 1.5% mark expected by the market.

    February's figure, blamed on wet weather and cost of living pressures, is the lowest since August 2022.

    "As many households continue to adapt budgets to meet higher essential costs, including higher mortgage rates, consumer reluctance to get out there and start spending is likely to remain in the short term," said Linda Ellett, head of KPMG UK consumer, leisure and retail.

    "With big increases in labour costs and business rates just weeks away, adding to an already stressed cost agenda for retailers, many will be pinning their hopes on some good news in the chancellor's spring budget this week to help kick start a spending revival on the high street."

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Overnight in the US

    US stocks closed lower on Monday as investors girded for a week where Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's testimony and the monthly jobs report could put equity gains to the test.

    The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell just below the flatline after ending Friday with its 16th weekly win in 18 weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) declined 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.4% as a drop in both Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) shares weighed on the tech heavy index.

    Stocks have racked up gains amid a relentless AI-spurred run-up in techs, which helped the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) finally nail a fresh all-time high after a years long wait last week.

    The tech rally, and Nvidia's (NVDA) breakneck rise to a $2 trillion valuation in particular, has prompted concerns about a building bubble — though some analysts are less worried. Shares of the chipmaker rose 6% to new all time highs during Monday's session.

    From our US team.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Overnight in Asia

    Stocks were in the red overnight in Asia, as China's premier said the country’s target for economic growth this year is set at around 5%, in line with expectations. Li Qiang added that the country would look to issue 1 trillion yuan ($139bn) in long-term bonds to help bridge funding gaps.

    The government will also expand its subsidised housing in an effort to prop up the ailing property sector.

    The Hang Seng in Hong Kong (^HSI) lost 2.7% and Korea's Kospi (^KS11) wavered 0.9%.

    Japan's Nikkei (^N225) the golden child of Asian indexes for the past months, fell slightly.

  • Lucy Harley-McKeown

    Good morning!

    Hello from London, where we're watching more rumours trickle through about the chancellor's spring budget. Looks like investors were taking profits overnight in both the US and Asia. The FTSE 100 is also set for a lower open. Let's get to it.

Watch: When will the Federal Reserve be ready to ease on inflation?

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