FTSE 100 today: London markets to open higher on weaker UK jobs report

It's currently 4:41am on Tuesday, May 14th, 2024.

Today's market movements are a mixed bag in Asia following a lackluster performance on Wall Street. The UK employment report, US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech, and Vodafone's earnings are the main points of focus.

The S&P 500 went down a little bit as investors waited for important information on US inflation and earnings reports. A survey showed that consumers are worried about inflation, which made investors more careful. Asian markets stayed around the same high level, but Japan's bond prices were under pressure because the central bank is buying fewer bonds. Oil prices went up a bit because the amount of oil available is expected to go down, while gold prices stayed the same. Walmart is getting ready to lay off a lot of workers and move some of its corporate offices, according to the Wall Street Journal. Reuters thinks that the Federal Reserve will cut the fed funds rate by 25 basis points in September. Investors will be paying attention to the UK employment report before the markets open and to what Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says later in the day. Here are five important things to remember today.

"Walmart To Cut Corporate Staff, Relocate, Reports WSJ"

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Walmart is reducing its corporate staff by hundreds of workers and encouraging many employees who work remotely to switch to office jobs.

Additionally, Walmart is urging its workers stationed in smaller offices located in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto to consider relocating to bigger central centers like the corporate headquarters situated in Bentonville, or offices situated in Hoboken or Southern California. Nevertheless, despite the transformations, Walmart shall still permit its personnel to part-time work from home, with the caveat that they spend most of their work hours in an office setting.

"September Rate Cut By US Fed Expected: Reuters"

Based on a report from Reuters, most of the 108 economists surveyed expect a reduction of 25 basis points in the federal funds rate by the US Federal Reserve in September.

Looking into the future, 65 of the economists in the same group anticipate a decrease of 50 basis points in rates, which will be made by the Federal Reserve in 2024. On the other hand, 17 economists predict that there will be rate cuts that exceed 50 basis points, while only one economist thinks that there will not be any rate reductions at all.

Weak Yen Boosts Imports, Keeps Japan's Wholesale Prices Stable In April

In April, Japan's wholesale prices did not experience any significant changes and increased by 0.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, which is similar to the rise seen in March. The CGPI, which is utilized to determine pricing between companies, exceeded the forecasts made by the market. This happened because the yen's value fell, causing import costs to increase by 6.4 per cent.

Ahead of Tuesday, investors are preparing themselves for significant updates on the UK labour market. They are paying attention to the potential policy changes which might be revealed by Huw Pill, who is the Bank of England's chief economist, and Megan Greene, who is an external member of the monetary policy panel. They are both expected to give their insights later in the week, and investors are closely watching for any indicators that might influence their decision-making processes.

The labour market data is the main focus in the UK right now. Experts predict that the jobless rate will slightly increase from 4.2 per cent to 4.3 per cent between January and March. There is also an expected decline in earnings growth, with a predicted rate of 5.5 per cent. This includes wages without bonuses, which are forecasted to drop below 6 per cent for the first time since September 2022.

They're also carefully watching out for Wednesday's release of US inflation information, as this can provide valuable information on what the Federal Reserve's interest rate strategy may be.

Let's talk about what's happening in the Netherlands today. Jerome Powell, who's in charge of the Federal Reserve, will be attending an event at the Dutch central bank. At the same time, we can expect the US Department of Labor to release information about the prices producers charged for their products in April.

At the same time, the focus in the corporate world is directed towards Vodafone's upcoming financial results for the fourth quarter, as well as the entire fiscal year of 2024.

Asian Markets Mixed, Hong Kong Stocks Soar During Japanese Bond Sell-off

In the most recent night trading session, there were different changes in the primary US stock indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased a little by 0.21%, reaching 39,431.51 points, and the S&P 500 experienced a small drop of 0.02%, reaching 5,221.42 points. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite had a positive movement and increased by 0.29% to hit 16,388.24 points. The growth can be attributed to gains in four of the Magnificent Seven's stocks.

Moreover, the Russell 2000, which primarily deals with minor enterprises, managed to attain a meager increase of 0.1 per cent.

Out of the 11 main divisions that make up the S&P 500 index, just two of them experienced an upward shift on Monday.

The stock market was led by technology stocks, mainly Apple, which greatly impacted the overall performance of the index. GameStop shares also saw a remarkable increase of 74% due to the reappearance of "Roaring Kitty" on X.com after a break. This person played a crucial role in the meme stock frenzy of 2021.

Other stocks that were highly targeted for short selling during the 2021 meme surge, like AMC Entertainment and Koss Corp, experienced boosts of 78% and 36.7%, correspondingly.

In Asian markets, the Nikkei N225 of Japan didn't move much while the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong increased by 0.9 percent. There were significant advances in the Hang Seng Mainland Properties index, which rose by 2.2 percent, and the Hang Seng Tech index, which jumped by 2.1 percent.

Currencies from Asia, specifically South Korea's currency, saw a decrease in value compared to the US dollar. The won fell by 0.3%, bringing it to a value of Won1,370.11.

The rise of market interest rates from Japan's central bank has been foreseen, and traders have prepared for it by adjusting their predictions and subsequently increasing the yields on Japanese government bonds. This was also influenced by a decrease in the central bank's bond purchasing program, which traders are keeping a close eye on.

Throughout this time frame, the prices of oil and gold stayed fairly consistent. The cost of Brent crude futures remained at $83.40 per barrel, while spot gold managed to retain its worth of $2,339 per ounce.