FTSE Red On The Week, As US Recession Concerns Spark Investor Fears 

Friday saw a sharp decrease in London stocks, along with wider market losses as investors became more cautious after the US jobs report came in well below expectations with the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%, stoking concerns of a US recession. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 1.34% on the day it had its worst performance in almost three months. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index was likewise down.

Shares of British outsourcing firm Capita fell by 10.5% to 17.12p, marking the lowest point since March 6 and making it the top loser on the FTSE SmallCap Index. The company's half-year revenue dropped 16% to £1.24 billion. Capita now anticipates a low to mid-single digit percentage decrease in adjusted revenue for 2024, revising its prior forecast which had been broadly in line with 2023 revenues. Despite this, the company is maintaining its full-year profit guidance. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen approximately 13%.

Following a 1.1% loss in the previous session, investment banking and brokerage stocks in London saw a 1.8% decrease.As Italian competitor Salvator Ferragamo revealed a 41% drop in its operational earnings for the first half of the year, personal goods like Burberry had a more than 1% decline.The owner of British Airways canceled its proposed acquisition of Spain's Air Europa, citing regulatory environment worries, IAG Group surged 3.85% to top the FTSE 100.

As gold prices increased due to demand from safe havens and expectations of a September fall in the U.S. GOL, precious metal miners saw a 0.7% gain. Banks continued to lose 0.8% over the previous session. Due to the Bank of England's quarter-point rate decrease and the French lender Societe Generale's reduction in its forecast for retail net interest income, the industry saw its worst day since February 2022 on Thursday. After cutting rates from a 16-year high, the British central bank announced on Thursday that it would be cautious about reducing them any further. This was the first rate cut since 2020.

Technical & Trade View

FTSE Bias: Bullish Above Bearish below 8225

• Primary support 8000

• Primary objective 8593

• Daily  VWAP Bearish

• Weekly VWAP Bearish

(Click on image to enlarge)

More By This Author: