MARKET UPDATES 14/03/2016

The FTSE 100 is called to open 5 points higher at 6144.

UK Gilt 10 Year Yield 1.5755%, Spot Gold $1254.00 +3.15 Brent Crude $40.51 -0.15

$ per £ 1.4373

$ per € 1.1149

€ per £ 1.2890

U.S. stocks joined a global rally, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its highest close this year, as investors reassessed stimulus measures in Europe and warmed to the steps taken to boost growth. Banks and commodity shares were the best performers, continuing to pace a monthlong advance. Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. added more than 2.6 percent. Dow Chemical Co. gained 3.1 percent while Anadarko Petroleum Corp. jumped to a two-month high as crude posted its longest run of weekly gains since May. The S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent to 2,022.19 at 4 p.m. in New York, capping a fourth straight week of gains, the most since November. The gauge finished above its average price during the past 200 days for the first time this year, ending its longest streak below that threshold since 2011. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 218.18 points, or 1.3 percent, to 17,213.31. It also closed at a 2016 high and above its 200-day moving average. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.9 percent.

PRESS COMMENTARY

Sainsbury Set to Raise Bid for Argos Parent to GBP1.5b: Mail.

Osborne Mulls Sale of Bradford & Bingley Assets: Sky

The Times: George Osborne is poised to announce further cuts of about £4 billion to government spending by the end of the decade in a budget that reflects growing uncertainty over the economic recovery.

COMPANY NEWS

AIA Group Ltd. and Prudential Plc shares declined in Hong Kong after China tightened restrictions on the use of third-party payment providers to buy insurance products in the city. Hong Kong-based AIA fell as much as 2.4 percent Monday, the biggest intraday decline since Feb. 29, after Bloomberg reported Saturday the People’s Bank of China will prohibit the use of electronic payment services by mainland individuals for any purchases of life insurance and investment-related products, starting March 12.

BNP Paribas SA, France’s largest bank, had its long-term credit rating cut to A from A+ by Standard & Poor’s, which cited a “less favourable” view of the lender’s capital cushion.

Airbus Chief Executive Officer Fabrice Bregier said in an interview published in Le Figaro newspaper that even a global slowdown will have a smaller impact on air traffic as a growing middle class travels more. Source Quilter Cheviot.

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