Tag Archives: Earnings reports

Dollar Holds Steady After Rally

Here’s today’s ‘Just A Minute’ bringing you a 60 second summary of what’s happening in the financial markets:

Main Trading Event Of The Day: GBP Manufacturing Production @ 08.30 GMT

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING TODAY

Dollar Holds Steady After Rally

The dollar held steady versus a basket of major currencies today having retreated from the previous day’s two - week high. The dollar index was at 80.233, off a 1-1/2-week peak at 80.359 set on Monday but managed to hold on to most of the gains made following strong payrolls data last Thursday. The greenback’s lacklustre performance came as U.S. Treasury yields slipped from recent highs after Wall Street turned cautious ahead of the second-quarter earnings season starting this week. This helped support the euro, which held steady at $1.3605, after a low of $1.3576 on Monday after an unexpectedly big fall in German industrial output unsettled the common European currency. The disappointing data added to increasing signs of a weaker second quarter in Europe’s largest economy and fanned expectations the European Central Bank may have to loosen monetary policy further in the months ahead. The dollar eased 0.1 percent to about 101.82 yen, nudging away from a two-week high of 102.27 yen set last Thursday. Meanwhile, the Fed is thought likely to continue with its tapering of asset purchases and to start raising interest rates sometime next year.

Europe Shares Seen Slightly Higher With Upcoming Data & Earnings

European shares are set to open higher today on Tuesday with a series of data due for the euro zone and as investors contemplate the beginning of corporate earnings season. The FTSE is up 2 points at 6,82 and the German Dax 4 points higher at 9,910. Germany is set to receive foreign trade data which could set the tone for the day’s trading session. European stocks closed lower on Monday following weak industrial production data for Germany, which stoked fears of a slowdown in Europe’s largest economy. Investors have also been anticipating the upcoming earnings season with Alcoa - the traditional signal for the start of the season - due to release results in the U.S. on Tuesday evening. Traders are looking for profit growth from corporates to give them a reason to keep buying stocks and push benchmark indexes higher. Firms listed in the pan-European Stoxx 600 are predicted to grow 17.7 percent from the second quarter in 2013 with nine of the index’s 10 sectors set for an improvement.

Twitter Appoints Global Media Chief

According to reports, Twitter has appointed Katie Stanton its new media chief, positioning the former Google executive at the heart of its vital relationships with Hollywood and the global media industry. Twitter has reported lacklustre user and usage growth for the last couple of quarters, and its stock price has nearly halved in the last six months. Stanton will oversee Twitter’s continuing efforts to court TV networks, Hollywood studios and other media companies around the world.

That sums up today’s highlights! Stay in touch with us via our Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn pages for all the latest trading news! We hope you have a profitable day on the markets.

Just A Minute!

Here’s Thursday’s ‘Just A Minute’ bringing you a 60 second summary what’s happening in the markets today:

Main Trading Events Of The Day: Several today including ECB Press Conference @ 13.30; USD Trade Balance & Unemployment Claims @ 13.30 GMT

Earnings Reports: General Motors Co; Earnings per share forecast: 88 cents. LinkedIn Corp; Earnings per share forecast: 38 cents.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING TODAY

European Central Banks Set To Meet As Asian Stocks Rebound

A busy day on the markets with monetary policy decisions expected later in the day from the European Central Bank and Bank of England. While analysts don’t expect any action from either bank, focus will be on hints about future policy direction. Asian equities rebounded on the back of upbeat earnings reports and as investors went bargain hunting after recent selling, but caution prevailed ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report. U.S. indices ended little changed yesterday as investors reacted to a mixed bag of economic data. Attention now turns to Friday’s important U.S. payrolls report with traders hoping for a rebound after December’s disappointing reading. Another weak report could dent investor sentiment, which has been hurt by the turmoil in emerging markets, slowing Chinese growth and a reduction in U.S. stimulus.

Gold Retreats Again as Silver Extends Advance

Gold retreats once again, falling from the highest in over a week as gains in equities and emerging-market currencies slowed demand for alternative investments. Silver extended an advance to head for the longest rally since December. Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,255.67 an ounce from $1,257.92 yesterday, when prices reached $1,274.74, the highest since Jan 27. Silver rose 0.1 percent to $19.9136 an ounce, a fifth day of gains capping the longest winning run since the period to Dec. 27. Gold advanced 3.2 percent in January, the first monthly gain since August 2013 as the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities sank 4.1 percent on concern that a rout in emerging markets would worsen. Silver yesterday jumped 2 percent, the most since Jan. 10 helping send its ratio to gold to the lowest in almost two weeks today.

Twitter Investors Twitchy Over User Growth Figures

Twitter yesterday reported its slowest pace of user growth in recent company history, lowering investors’ hopes that it can sustain its rapid pace of expansion and wiping out nearly a fifth of the company’s value in after-hours trading. Although Twitter posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of $243 million in its first results as a public company, investors were unnerved by the weak user growth, as well as a severe decline in timeline views. Some analysts warned that its valuation looked increasingly bloated. On a more positive note, the efficacy of its advertising business model which places ads inside users’ timelines every time they refresh appeared to steadily improve. Overall, the actual numbers are strong in terms of fundamentals, just not as strong as some people were hoping for.

That sums up today’s highlights. Remember to watch for those important earnings announcements later today. Keep in touch with us via Facebook, Google+ & Twitter for breaking news, educational information, trader tips and more. Trade only with the experts! We hope you have a profitable day on the markets.

Just A Minute!

Welcome to our new look Coffee Break page. Now you can catch up on some of the key highlights of your trading day in just a minute!

Main trading events of the day: EUR CPI Flash Estimate y/y @10.00 GMT & CAD GDP @13.30 GMT
Stocks to watch: Google, Amazon, Zynga & Chipotle
Other trading news: Amazon.com, Inc. reported Q4 EPS of $0.51, $0.15, worse than the analyst estimate of $0.66. Revenue for the quarter came in at $25.59 billion versus the consensus estimate of $26.06 billion

What We’re Watching Today:

Emerging Markets

While investors love the promise of high returns from emerging-market equities, there are not many of them to buy. Just how few are indicated on the map below. In many emerging markets, the value of all the freely traded shares of firms that feature in the local MSCI share index is equivalent to just one single Western firm! That means all the shares available in India are worth about the same as Nestlé while Egypt’s are equal to Burger King. This suggests that emerging economies need deeper, more liquid markets-and investors need more perspective. Worth bearing in mind if you’re trading.

Tech

Facebook

Investors in Facebook who were worried about a possible slackening in the social network’s membership growth can stop worrying. Facebook says 170 million new users joined the service over the last year, bringing its total to 1.23 billion active monthly users around the world. Looking at this another way, Facebook added the equivalent of 73 percent of Twitter’s user base to its membership rolls in 2013. This amazing statistic came earlier in the week amid an upbeat earnings report from the world’s largest social network. No doubt this has quietened skeptics! As Mark Zuckerberg celebrates Facebook’s 10^th birthday, it looks like it’s here to stay!

Stocks

As goes January … so expect a volatile year (so the saying goes….)

As we say goodbye to January, the stock market is down about 3 percent, and it has already set the tone for a much more challenging year. As goes January, so goes the year, is the adage. It has been right in 62 of the last 85 years, that’s 73 percent of the time. Since World War II, whenever the market was down in January, the average price change was usually flat in the remaining 11 months. Will history repeat itself again? Let’s see what February has in store…

That sums up Friday’s highlights! We’re back on Monday. Don’t forget, if you need to brush up your trading skills, why not visit our educational site this weekend? Banc De Binary’s free tutorial is easy to follow and can be done at your own pace. Learn with the experts and become a superior trader! Here’s the link www.bancdebinary.net

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