US equity markets were mixed on Wednesday as Energy names weighed on blue-chip indices, while the Tech-focused Nasdaq avoided losses to close higher.
Accendo Markets Analyst, Mike van Dulken commented – “The Dow Jones was led lower by underperformance from IBM on account of weak Q1 results and the crude oil price slide hurting oil major Chevron, while the S&P500’s Energy sector was the index’s greatest laggard.”
The FTSE 100 has been fairly flat this morning following two days of uncertainty as the Pound has dominated headlines in the wake of the UK Governments snap General Election announcement.
Mike van Dulken suggested – “The FTSE is at a critical juncture, just north of 2017 lows at 7090. There are 350 or 450 points available should we rally back to 2017 highs or drop back to December lows, respectively. Whichever way the index goes though, it’s likely that both Miners and Oil majors are on-board. Which could well be dictated by sentiment towards Oil prices. Listen out for those OPEC headlines again, revived before next month’s OEPC-Russia meeting to assess the success of production cuts so far and decide whether to prolong their pact.”
ADS Securities Analyst, Konstantinos Anthis added – “Following the announcement of the UK election investors are eager to hear from the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney who today will be speaking in Washington. The British pound has benefited from a string of positive performances from the domestic economy and it will be interesting to hear how Carney positions these.”
Investors will be focusing on continued analysis of this weekend’s French first round Presidential election as well as preparations and polls for our own UK snap general election in early June.