Markets focused on US jobs figures, Dell shares jump 8%
Traders are looking to this afternoon’s non-farm payrolls figure for guidance on whether the Federal Reserve has room to pause interest rate rises later this month.
A forecast decline from July’s addition of 187,000 jobs to 170,000 in August will provide more evidence that rates are in restrictive territory and slowing the US economy.
The prospect of the closely-watched figures put pressure on Wall Street yesterday, with the Nasdaq Composite the only major benchmark in positive territory.
The performance rounded off a disappointing August for markets after the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 index and Nasdaq all fell in the region of 2%.
In trading after the closing bell, Dell Technologies jumped 8% after it raised full-year revenues and profit guidance due to higher demand for AI-optimised servers.
Asia markets have continued the cautious pattern of trading, with the FTSE 100 index forecast by CMC Markets open 16 points higher at 7455 after a drop of 34 points yesterday.
Yesterday’s selling came after Europe’s headline inflation rate remained unchanged at 5.3%, fuelling expectations of another ECB rate rise later this month.
Frasers ups stake in Boohoo yet again
Mike Ashley’s Frasers group has once again upped its stake in fashion retailer Boohoo.
The firm’s stake has gone up from 7.8% to 10.4%. That means Ashley is close to overtaking Boohoo founder Mahmud Kamani to become the biggest single shareholder of the business.
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has upped its stake in fashion firm Boohoo in the latest move to boost its holdings in online retail players (Ian West/PA)
/ PA ArchiveHouse prices fall 5.3% as interest rate hikes hit property
House prices fell 5.3% year-on-year in August, a much faster drop than expected, in a sign that interest rate hikes are clearly talking their toll on the property sector.
Princes were down 0.8% month-on-month, compared to a 0.4% expected drop.
House prices had proved surprisingly resilient even against the face of soaring interest rates, but today’s decline suggests that this may be starting to change.
Recap: Yesterday’s top stories
FzilchGood morning. Here’s a summary of our top headlines from yesterday: