Stocks are firmer on Friday though major indices continue to show indecision as they rotate around the 50-60 per cent retracement of the recent pullback through the second week of June. Economic data remains challenging and in the US at least there are fears about rising case numbers. See this week's cover feature on how pharma and healthcare companies are faring in the battle against Covid-19.
US jobless claims were disappointingly high, missing expectations for both initial and continuing claims. Following the surprisingly good nonfarm payrolls report, the weekly numbers didn’t follow through with conviction – initial claims were down just 58k to 1.5m, whilst continuing claims only fell by 62k to 20.5m. The slowing in the rate of change is a concern – hiring is not really outpacing firing at a fast-enough pace to be confident of a decent recovery. You would prefer to see a greater improvement given the reopening of businesses, and it suggests more permanent scarring to the labour market. For our perspective on the UK employment situation, read this news feature.
Worries about the spread of the disease persist, though second wave fears are not exerting too much pressure as investors start to get used to rising case numbers – remember it’s not cases that count, it’s the lockdown and people’s fear of going out that hurts the economy and corporate earnings. California and Florida both registered their biggest one-day rise in cases. As previously stated, I don’t believe there is the will to enforce blanket lockdowns again. UK retail sales rose 12 per cent in May, bouncing back from the 18 per cent decline in April as we rushed to DIY stores but are still 13 per cent down on February levels before the pandemic struck these shores. Australia also posted a strong bounce in retail sales of more than 16 per cent.
Stocks were broadly weaker yesterday in Europe and the US. Shares across Europe have opened higher on Friday and remain set to end the week up. As per yesterday’s note, the major indices remain in consolidation mode around the middle of the range from the Jun 8/9th peaks to the Jun 15th lows. The S&P 500 finished at 3115, on the 61.8 per cent retracement of the move. Trading around the 6240 level this morning the FTSE 100 is similarly placed but also flirting with the 50 per cent retracement of the Jan-Mar drawdown. Remember it’s quadruple witching in US when options and futures on indices and equities expire, so there can be a lot more volume and volatility.
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For a trading perspective on Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk, check out Michael Taylor's column this week on the company Petropavlovsk - Going for gold.
UK public debt is now higher than GDP, official data this morning shows. That’s not happened since the 1960s as the nation recovered from the second world war and highlights the damage being wrought on the public finances by the pandemic response. Picking up from the Bank of England yesterday, which increased QE by £100bn, the amount of issuance may require additional asset purchases from the central bank.
Sterling broke to almost three-week lows yesterday, with GBPUSD testing the 1.24 round number support in the wake of the BoE decision. This morning the 50-day simple moving average at 1.2430 is acting as support but having already broken down through the key support levels the path to 1.22 is open again. The euro was also making fresh lows for June, with the 1.12 round number holding for the time being after a breach of the 1.1230 area at the 23.6 per cent of the 2014-2017 top-to-bottom move.
Oil is higher, with WTI (Aug) progressing back towards the top of the recent consolidation range close to the $40 level, which may act as an important psychological level. Iraq and Kazakhstan have set out how they will not only comply with OPEC cuts but also compensate for overproduction in May. Other ‘underperforming participants’ have until Jun 22nd to outline how they will compensate for overproduction following Thursday’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). OPEC conformity stood at 87 per cent in May and the JMMC did not recommend extending the maximum level of cuts into August. Hopes that non-compliant nations will make up for cuts helped raise sentiment around crude and sent Brent into backwardation for the first time since the beginning of March, with August now trading a few cents above September and October contracts.
If you want further perspective on the markets right now listen in to our free weekly Investment Hour podcast, featuring the thoughts of Phil Oakley and Chris Dillow.
Neil Wilson is chief markets analyst at Markets.com
