Tuesday's market movers and shakers
Rishi Sunak’s move into 10 Downing Street has further calmed the market for UK gilts (government bonds). The current yield on 10-year gilts is around 3.61% – lower than before Kwasi Kwarteng announced his disastrous mini-budget on 23 September. Lower gilt yields will bring down interest rates on new mortgages and should help make the stock market more attractive. The pound has also had a strong day, rising 1.78% to $1.15.
That rise in the pound, however, makes some global stocks listed in London a little less attractive. That’s because when you convert profits earned in dollars back into sterling, a higher exchange rate means that the final profits figure in pounds is a little lower. So for the FTSE 100, which contains lots of global businesses, it was a mixed day even though interest rates are falling. The FTSE 100 ended flat at 7,031 points. The FTSE 250, which is more weighted to UK-focused businesses, rose 2.8% to 17,832 points.
In today’s movers we look at why HSBC shares have fallen even though the bank has made better than expected profits. And we also look at Superdry which tried to bury some bad news yesterday.
Ed Bowsher
25 October 2022
Features
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