Spreadex Market Update

Dovish Fed leaves FTSE eyeing 7000, DAX back above 11300



With the Dow Jones breaching 25000 for the first time since the start of last December overnight – the index was aided by some decent tech earnings and, more importantly, an aggressively dovish statement from the Federal Reserve – the European markets blossomed after the bell.

Keen to play catch up after spending much of January’s back end in the red, the FTSE continued its month-closing rally on Thursday, the index lifting another 50 points to make eyes at 7000. It wasn’t just the macro-landscape that gave the index a boost; it also received a helping hand from some of its key components. Shell’s 36% surge in annual profits sent the oil giant 3.5% higher as the session got underway, while Diageo rose 3.7% after getting a sizeable round in, the Guinness and Smirnoff-owner announcing a £660 million share buyback.

Sterling – whose recent, optimistic strength had been the main reason for the UK index spending most of the second half of January on a rather nasty losing streak – took a break from the week’s Brexit-led losses on Thursday. Against the dollar it rose 0.2%, creeping back above $1.314 in the process; against the euro, however, it could only reclaim 0.1%, just about lifting the pound off Wednesday’s one week lows.

On a GDP-heavy day – the preliminary flash estimate for the region as a whole is expected to stay at 0.2% in Q4 – the Eurozone indices got off to a very bright start. The DAX added another 1.2%, touching a near 2 month high of 11300, with the CAC climbing 1% to cross 5000.

SEARCH FOR AN ARTICLE:

Enter a keyword and search for all relevant articles

MARKET ANALYSIS

RECENT POSTS

Financial Trading Blog

FTSE 100 Under Pressure From Oil Ahead of CPI, Sainsbury's Earnings

Read More

Economic Diary

21.04.26

Read More

Weekly Technical Analysis

Weekly Technical Analysis

Read More

Financial Trading Blog

Nasdaq At Record Highs Ahead of Tesla, Intel Earnings

Read More

Daily Market Update

20.04.26 Monday Morning

The S&P 500 edged lower in thin trading after record highs as investors weighed renewed US-Iran tensions and...

Read More

Economic Diary

20.04.26

Read More

DISCLAIMER


Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 61% of retail investors lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. For professional clients, spread betting and CFD trading can also result in losses larger than your initial stake or deposit.

Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, provides an execution only service and does not provide advice in any way. Nothing within this update should be deemed to constitute the provision of investment advice, recommendations, any other professional advice in any way, or a record of our trading prices. This update does not constitute or form part of an offer of, or solicitation for a transaction in any financial instrument, nor shall it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefore. Any persons placing trades based on their interpretation of the comments or information within this update does so entirely at their own risk.

No representation, warranty, or undertaking, express or limited, is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained within this update by Spreadex Ltd or any of its employees and no liability is accepted by such persons for the accuracy or completeness of any such information or opinions. As such, no reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information and opinions contained within this update.

The information contained within this update is the intellectual property of Spreadex Ltd and is protected by UK and International copyright laws. All rights reserved. Users may however freely download, distribute and reproduce extracts of the contents, subject always to accrediting Spreadex Ltd as the source and providing a hyperlink to www.spreadex.com.