Today's Closing Update
U.S. Shares pared gains but remained in positive as investors appeared disappointed that Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen offered little indication of the central bank’s monetary policy path.
European and U.K. Shares closed lower after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen kicked off a series of central banker speeches at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Wyoming.
Music streaming service Spotify is said to be considering a flotation on the New York Stock Exchange after it signed a licensing deal with Warner Music Group. Warner was the last of the three big music labels to reach a deal with Spotify, with the Swedish company having already signed agreements with Sony and Universal. Spotify has had to agree to putting in place certain limitations to it can get the labels on its side, making their catalogues available to the app’s 140m users.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen defended financial rules introduced to the US after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, backing policies that President Donald Trump has deemed “a disaster”. The Trump administration has said the rules have stifled economic growth and lending. It is working with Republicans in Congress and financial firms to roll back some regulations. Ms Yellen said the bank was open to changes but they should remain modest. Ms Yellen spoke in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where top economists and central bankers have gathered for an annual conference.
After reporting a sharp jump in new orders for US manufactured durable goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp pullback in durable goods orders in the month of July. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 6.8% in July after surging up by 6.4% in June. Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 6.0%. The bigger than expected pullback in durable goods orders was due to a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, which tumbled by 19.0% in July after spiking by 19.1% in June.
Shire has agreed to collaborate with MicroHealth Inc to support a free and secure monitoring tool for haemophilia A and B patients with inhibitors. The tool was developed in the form of an app by digital healthy company MicroHealth, to help improve haemophilia patient care and outcome through the ability to set reminders, track, store and selectively share personal health data, including photos and bleed alerts, with care team members. Shire said the collaboration will help the start-up customise the tool with new features and information specifically for the 5-7% of haemophilia patients with inhibitors. Both companies remain independent in this collaboration and Shire does not have access to any patient, caregiver or other third-party data through this collaboration.
Four out of five UK businesses have seen costs rise because of changes in employment legislation, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) reports. The apprenticeship levy, pensions auto-enrolment and a new higher minimum wage have increased business costs. The BCC’s annual workforce survey interviewed some 1,400 businesses. The trade body wants the government to ensure no new upfront costs or taxes are imposed on businesses for the remainder of this Parliament. The changes to employment legislation were designed to help improve wages and prospects for workers, but the BCC is concerned that high employment costs will have a negative impact on employees.
Oil prices rose as the U.S. petroleum industry braced for Hurricane Harvey, which could become the biggest storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade.
Gold prices moved higher, buoyed by a weaker dollar that came on the heels of a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that didn’t offer clues on the central bank’s monetary policy investors hoped for
Market Close
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,401.5 |
-5.6 |
-0.1% |
UK 250 |
19,671.3 |
-39.0 |
-0.2% |
GER 30 |
12,1790.0 |
-1.9 |
-0.0% |
FRA 40 |
5,108.4 |
-4.7 |
-0.1% |
U.S. 30 |
21,835.86 |
+52.46 |
+0.2% |
U.S. 500 |
2,445.7 |
+6.8 |
+0.3% |
OIL (BRENT) |
52.24 |
+0.20 |
+0.4% |
GOLD |
1,292.24 |
+5.84 |
+0.4% |
UK Risers & Fallers
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Provident Financial |
912 |
+164 |
+21.9% |
Computacenter |
1020.5 |
+137 |
+15.6% |
Pearson |
624.5 |
+10 |
+1.6% |
Hunting |
401.4 |
-25.1 |
-5.9% |
CRH |
2732 |
-61 |
-2.2% |
Worldpay |
418.9 |
-8.6 |
-2% |
Reported Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
9:00am: German Ifo Business Climate |
116.0 |
115.5 |
115.9 |
1:30pm: U.S. Durable Goods Orders m/m |
0.1% |
0.4% |
0.5% |
5:00pm: U.S. Fed Chair Yellen Speaks |
– |
– |
– |
8:00pm: ECB President Draghi Speaks |
– |
– |
– |
Sources
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/shire-in-collaboration-with-microhealth-on-haemophilia-monitoring-tool–2829665.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1503666264017548900.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/aim-bulletin/quadrise-fuels-not-aware-of-any-reason-for-share-price-drop–2829446.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/technology/spotify-signs-warner-music-deal-as-music-app-looks-to-go-public–2829478.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-25/u-s-equity-funds-post-longest-run-of-outflows-since-2004
http://uk.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idUKL8N1LB1T4
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=oil+reuters&oq=oil+&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i60l3j69i57j69i59.1040j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-climb-as-market-gears-up-for-yellens-jackson-hole-speech-2017-08-25
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/25/european-markets-seen-higher-jackson-hole-on-the-radar-prada-reports.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-firms-on-track-for-narrow-weekly-gain-as-rate-clues-sought-from-jackson-hole-2017-08-25
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41053738
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41047890