Easing Brexit concerns boost market

The FTSE is stronger this morning, still feeding off this week’s signals that there may be a deal done before the Brexit deadline and a calming comment from BoE’s Mark Carney saying that he doesn’t expect a disruptive no deal Brexit scenario. Contrast this with his concerned comments in the early autumn and it may become clear why share prices are rising across a range of industries. It is perhaps telling of the market mood that utilities, which are typically a safe haven purchase, are uniformly in decline.

IAG flies high

British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines surprised the market with an upbeat view of its earnings over the next five years, dancing out of line with the rest of the industry. Airlines had a very tough year so far as a rise in oil prices increased their outgoings and higher labour costs weighed on their bottom line. But IAG managed to balance this out by hedging some of its oil exposure and increasing its passenger carrying capacity which will help the firm increase earnings to €7.2bn a year over the next five years.

Apple shares rumble lower, weigh on US indexes

The market’s high expectations of Apple are hard to meet as the company found to its cost late Thursday when the stock plunged over 7% at times in the wake of it’s results. Though the tech giant turned in a healthy set of earnings and profits the drag came from the company’s outlook for the traditionally very profitable December quarter which was somewhat subdued despite Apple’s latest line of XR iPhones.

US-China trade dispute: a turning point?

The smoke and mirrors game between President Trump and China took another turn overnight with a phone call between the two heads of state that was described as positive. However Trump has been known to blow hot and cold before and during major negotiations and a positive comment today could easily turn into a less than flattering one tomorrow. Asian stocks rallied to a three week high, indicating how desperate equity markets are for a positive resolution of the trade dispute. The yuan didn’t lag behind, staging its own rally, while the newfound good mood spilled into early European trading. A formal meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart will take place later this month at the G-20 summit and is likely to inject volatility into trading until the two sides reach a formal resolution over trade issues.