Appetite for stocks increases as trade war fears ease

European bourses are seen kicking off Tuesday’s session on higher ground, following stronger sessions on Wall Street and Asia overnight. 

The Dow rallied a solid 330 points, whilst the S&P 500 closed over 1% higher as concerns over trade wars eased. 

With increasing political pressure to rethink the plan, even from his own party, the probability of Trump being able to push his steel and aluminium tariffs through are starting narrow. 

Smurfit Kappa sees off bid 

The FTSE is trading over 0.8% higher within the first hour of trading. Leading the charge higher is Smurfit Kappa, which jumped over 18%, as it rejects an unsolicited takeover bid from US rival, International Paper, claiming it fails to reflect the true value of the business and the attractive outlook for the industry as a whole. 

This is a stock that has put in a phenomenal performance over the past few years, which has been reflected in its share price; a share price which has increased 17% over the last year alone and 50% over the past 2 years. 

This is not the first time that the international paper packaging provider Smurfit Kappa has had to see off a bid from International Paper, with a similar rejection taking place just 3 years ago. 

Just Eat drops despite 45% revenue increase 

Heading up the loser board, Just Eat has shed some 11% in early trading despite delivering some bumper results. 

Whilst revenues at the take away delivery outfit beat forecasts, coming in up 42% at £164 million, increased investments have weighed on sentiment for the stock. The business is clearly thriving, as 21.5 million customers ordered 172 million takeaways a 26% increase on the previous year. 

However, there are growing concerns that the sector could be starting to look overcrowded, which would explain Just Eats decision to invest so heavily in promotional and investment spending, which hasn’t gone down so well with investors. 

BoE in focus this evening 

In the forex markets GBP/USD is trading flat as it lacks fresh impetus. With no high impacting UK economic data this morning, investors will instead look to this afternoon with US Durable Goods and Factory Orders potentially providing fresh direction. 

An appearance by BoE Chief economist Andy Haldane is also expected to be closely watched for any clues over the prospect of a May rate rise. 

Amazon going after bank margins? 

Reports have surfaced that Amazon is considering offering a checking account style product. This would be the e-tailer’s first move into financial services industry, although it has said that Amazon wouldn’t become an actual bank, just offer products directed to those who don’t yet hold a bank account. 

The expansion possibilities of Amazon seem to know no bounds, Amazon has access to millions of customers through its huge customer base, furthermore it has access to some serious amounts of capital. 

Combined this makes Amazon a huge potential force in the financial services industry.