Give yourself a spread betting edge by reading Joshua Raymond’s views on today’s market activity

Greater London, England -- (SBWire) -- 10/05/2010 -- Joshua Raymond, Market Strategist at City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk ) commenting on 4th October:

“European Indices fell by as much as 1% in early trading as investors awaiting a big week of economic data and the forthcoming start to the third quarter earnings season.

Trading has been fairly lacklustre today and one would expect this is a result of traders looking ahead to an intensive week of economic data that includes a Bank of England rate announcement and US Non Farm Payrolls. That said, I would not put it past a few traders out there keeping an eye on the final day of Ryder Cup too and so the lacklustre start to trading this week is of no real surprise.

Europe’s key Indices remain firmly locked in their current trading ranges. The FTSE continues to range trade largely between the 5500-5615 level. We have seen investors take advantage of this by buying near the lows and selling at the highs each time the FTSE touches the outer levels of its current ranges. We continue to await a break out before we may see the heavier trading volumes come back in with more conviction.

Traders are looking ahead to this afternoon data which includes US Factory Orders and Pending Home Sales. Both are likely to play a role in how investors behave towards the European closing bell.

Most of today’s weakness has come from profit taking in the commodities sector. We have seen Copper prices retreat from their 2 year highs and Crude Oil head back towards the $81 per barrel mark. This has triggered some investors to cash in their recent gains in the miners and energy stocks after a strong Septembers performance.

We have seen buyers continue to demand shares of Wolseley after Credit Suisse started their guidance on the stock with an ‘outperform’ rating, citing 1855p as their target. Wolseley shares have been particularly strong of late, rallying over 27% in September alone and today’s bullish stance by Credit Suisse has given its shares a second wind. If we get a better than expected Pending Home Sales data this afternoon out of the US, this could lock in a good session for Wolseley. That said, we cannot discount that there may be some profit taking on the cards with shares having rallied so much so quickly.

On the downside, energy firms such as Cairn Energy and BP are weighing on the FTSE Index, as are miners Xstrata and Kazakhmys, tracking weaker commodity prices. Traders have also sold out of Inmarsat shares on media speculation that Harbinger Capital Partners is considering selling its 10% stake in the firm. This has forced Inmarsat shares lower by 2.6% and it’s the worst performing equity in the FTSE 100 today.”

Find out more about indices spread betting at http://www.cityindex.co.uk/range-of-markets/indices-spread-betting.aspx

About City Index
Today more and more individual traders are discovering the benefits of derivatives, and many of them are discovering them through a City Index trading platform.

As a group, we transact in excess of 1.5 million trades every month for individuals in over 50 countries worldwide. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, contracts for differences (CFDs) and, in the UK, spread betting.

We constantly look to widen the range of assets we offer, improve the performance of our platforms and expand the range of services we provide. The result is that our customers benefit from innovative trading tools with transparent pricing, competitive spreads, and a high standard of customer service and support.