THE TIPSTER
THE Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to make its interest rate decision tomorrow and investors will be looking for signs of further intervention to weaken the yen. Recently the dollar-yen looks like it has reached an area of support around the 15-year low of ¥80.00. Considering that the market is speculating that there will be less quantitative easing (QE) for the US than expected, the BoJ might not need to intervene again and the dollar could continue to strengthen. Capital Spreads is quoting ¥81.50-¥81.52 for dollar-yen.
The UK’s biggest producer of coal, aptly named UK Coal, will give its trading update on Friday. Its long-suffering investors are hoping that the stock will perform better. Capital CFDs is quoting 33.4p-34.1p for UK Coal’s share price.
Since the lows of late July, the FTSE has built up a head of steam, rallying 1000 points from its base. But at current levels, the UK’s mining stock heavy index is beginning to look tired. There seems to be little to spur the market higher before the possible announcement of QE at the Fed meeting on 3 November. ETX Capital is quoting 5678-9 for the daily rolling contract.
It has been a tough year for British Airways with strikes and ash clouds weighing down on the share price. But investors have been encouraged by the recent plan to merge with the Spanish Iberia airline. The share price now looks fairly close to its yearly high of 283.8p. Analysts are expecting strong results on Friday so watch out for some profit-taking. Cantor Index is offering a spread of 280.44p–281.56p.
With sterling-dollar bouncing off the 50-day moving average, it looks set to test the $1.6100 region and ultimately head towards $1.6500. WorldSpreads is offering a 2 point spread on sterling-dollar.
There have been weak volumes across equity markets since the big players failed to come back after the summer. Traders are starting to think that the exchanges are going to suffer. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) was trading at around the 550p mark back in July and since then it has had a bit of a turnaround. Spreadex is offering a rolling spread of 728.2-730.8.
The oil giant BP could come under further pressure ahead of its third quarter earnings on 2 November. The market will be keen to hear what is next for BP since it is likely to report not only a fall in production levels but also an increased charge for failing to plug the Macondo well quickly. ETX Capital is quoting 422.3p-422.4p for the rolling daily contract.
The euro has had a pretty good run higher over the past few weeks. But it is starting to come under pressure against the dollar because attention is shifting back to the problems in peripheral Europe. The euro could well sink back towards $1.3500 in the coming week. CMC Markets is offering $1.37950-$1.37966 on euro-dollar.