After a poor May, which wiped over $2 trillion off global stock market values, investors are breathing a sigh of relief that the first week in June has seen markets tick back up again.
As of last night's close S&P500 had recovered 3.3% this week, roughly half the amount it lost last month, while Germany’s Dax index is up 2% and including today's gains the FTSE 100 is also up 2%.
The two main areas of interest this morning are Energy and Banks.
With Brent prices stabilising around $60-62 per barrel, oil majors BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) are up by 1.2% apiece, to 550p and £25.34 respectively, helping lift the FTSE to 7,304.
The other main focus is Banks as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduces a series of reforms to what it calls ‘a dysfunctional overdraft market’.
The changes are aimed at making overdrafts simpler and cheaper for customers. Banks will no longer be able to charge more for un-arranged overdrafts nor can they charge fixed fees for overdraft borrowing.
Barclays (BARC), Lloyds (LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) trade sideways while the rest of the market pushes ahead.
In company news, iron ore producer Ferrexpo (FXPO) says it sees first half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increasing ‘materially’ compared with last year thanks to higher volumes and record high prices.
It also notes that although input prices have risen, lower prices for Brent crude and natural gas are helping limit cost inflation. Shares rally 7% to 257p.
Also gaining 7%, to £47.34, is table-top gaming group Games Workshop (GAW) after a positive trading update for the year to 2 June. Revenues are seen at £254m and pre-tax profits are seen at ‘not less than £80m’, both of which are in line with its broker's estimates.
Heading in the opposite direction are shares in laser-guided equipment maker Somero Enterprises (SOM:AIM), down 21% to 278p, after it warns that heavy rains in the US have affected client orders.
While trading improved in May and the weather is expected to improve during the rest of the year, the company can’t make up the revenue it has lost therefore it is guiding down forecasts for the full year.
Also trading lower are shares in investment platform AJ Bell (AJB) after Invesco Asset management sold 38m shares or 9.3% of the company at 380p last night, a 5% discount to the closing price.
The placing, handled by Numis, leaves Invesco with a 16.1% stake in the company. Invesco says it ‘intends to remain a significant, long-term holder of the company’. Shares trade down 2.7% at 389p.
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Disclaimer: AJ Bell, mentioned in this article, is the owner of Shares magazine. The author owns shares in AJ Bell.
