Daily News Report

Markets in a Flash

• Asian equity markets made gains over night. The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.77% while the Hang Seng closed up 0.12%.
• European equity markets are flat today and are fluctuating between gains and losses. The Stress test results of Friday do not seem to have brought much direction to the markets.
• Commodities are mixed and Oil has fallen 0.84% today. Natural gas is also down on news of gas production in China.
• The GBP is strong today and has made gains against most other major currencies. GBP/USD is close to breaking out above its 5 month highs from April.
• The EUR/USD is trading around its 2 month highs and is pushing against resistance on the upside due to the European stress test results.
• US equity futures are very slightly down indicating a lower open at 0930ET.

News Focus

BP’s CEO is set to step down

Tony Hayward, CEO of BP Plc, is expected to resign from his position within the next few hours. After his departure is announced he is expected to remain at the firm for two months while work on sealing the leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues. He is expected to leave the company with a payoff of just over $1.55m (£1m) and a pension worth just over $15.5m (£10m). The man who is currently head of BP’s oil spill response unit, Mr Robert Dudley, is expected to replace Tony Hayward after his departure. Mr Dudley would be the first American to take charge at Bp and would be faced with the job of rebuilding the oil company’s battered reputation.


Coming up Today

1000ET – New Home Sales

Previous 300 K
Consensus 310 K
Consensus Range 280 K to 350 K

Last month’s figures released for the month of May showed new home sales fall to their lowest level since 1963. The figure of 300,000 was nearly a 33% drop from April’s new home sales figure of 446,000. The figure released today is expected to show a small rise this month to 310,000. Anything above this consensus figure is good news for the economy and will be warmly welcomed by the markets. If this month’s figure is below 300,000 it will put bearish forces on the markets as it will show that consumers are not spending as much.