Markets
- FTSE 100 – 8252.91
- DAX Index – 18,748.18
- Growth INT – 5.25% | INF 2%
- £/$ – 1.2972
- £/€ – 1.1906
Indices
- Gold – 2399.50
- Copper – 863.35
- Brent Crude oil – 82.16
- NYMEX Nat Gas – 2.26
- ICE NBP NAT GAS – 73.75
Crypto
- BTC – $62,992.44
- ETH – $3,352.40
- ADA – $0.4347
- DOGE – $0.1188
- DOT – $6.49
Monday’s Business Highlights
A mix bag this week after a rollercoaster weekend, President Trump’s attempted assassination by Jewish radical, Agonising Euro defeat for the English and bodies being dumped in the river.
But the markets have responded as Burberry cancels dividend sending shockwaves to investors. Asian markets slip because the Chinese did not meet GDP targets. But the UK is receiving a raft of economic upgrades for positive economic performance.
Crypto markets have boomed over the weekend as Bitcoin passes the $60k mark again having a knock on effect on all other crypto markets.
Burberry cancels dividend as sales plunge
Burberry announced the replacement of its chief executive and a suspension in its dividend as sales dropped over a quarter in a dire trading update for the luxury clothing brand.
Sales in all regions except Japan dropped by over 20 per cent as the company announced an expected revenue drop of around 25 per cent for the first half of the year.
Gerry Murphy, the chair of Burberry, described the results as “disappointing” and cited a “more challenging than expected” luxury market.
Asian markets slip as investors assess China GDP miss
Asian markets slip on Monday as China’s GDP data missed expectations, while investors also assessed the impact of an assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump at a rally over the weekend.
David Roche, president of Quantum Strategy, said in a note on Sunday that Trump would win the presidency, with an increased probability of a Republican clean sweep of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
On Monday, China’s statistics bureau announced that its economy grew 4.7% in the second quarter, missing expectations of a 5.1% expansion forecast by a Reuters poll and lower than the 5.3% rise seen in the first quarter.
Google buying startup cyber startup Wiz
Google is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity firm Wiz for $23 billion. Wiz officials have declined to comment either way which suggest the deal is close to being completed.
Wiz was founded in 2020, and has grown at a rapid clip under CEO Assaf Rappaport. It had been eyeing an IPO as recently as May, when the company achieved a valuation of $12 billion.
UK receives raft of upgrades after beating expectations again
Economic forecasters have been rushing to upgrade the UK’s outlook after the economy surpassed expectations again in May.
Figures out last week showed that the economy grew 0.4 per cent after stagnating in April. This was double the rate of growth expected by experts.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is now 0.7 per cent higher than it was in June last year, just before the start of the shallow recession.
Brexit? what brexit? We’re anxiously waiting on the ECB
The European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest interest rate decision will be the main event for traders this week as they try to assess the likely path of interest rates in the eurozone.
The ECB was the first major central bank to start cutting interest rates back in June, but policymakers stressed they would be taking “data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach” in the months ahead.
Statements since then have played down the potential for another cut this time around on the back of stubborn domestic inflationary pressures.
The UK market overview
The UK, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.36 per cent on Friday, but futures indicated a weaker start to Monday’s trading with a 0.21 per cent decline to 8,259.0 points.
In commodity markets, gold held steady at $2,408 per ounce, just shy of last week’s peak at $2,424. Oil prices rebounded slightly after Friday’s decline amidst progress towards a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Brent crude rose by eight cents to $85.11 per barrel, while US crude also increased by eight cents to $82.29 per barrel.