Wall street follows Europe lower as attention turns to US CPI data

Stocks in the US followed Europe lower as Tuesday's CPI data comes into focus. The FTSE was down (zz/NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx, Associated Press)

The FTSE 100 and European markets started the week in the red, while US stocks retreated from previous highs, with jobs data and the upcoming consumer price index print on the minds of investors.

• The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was almost flat by the close in London. Meanwhile, Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dropped 0.5% and the CAC (^FCHI) was 0.2% lower in Paris.

• The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) fell 0.5%.

• Over in the US, stocks were also lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped roughly 0.1%, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) shed 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) also was also down about 0.3%.

• The US Consumer Price Index report on Tuesday is front of mind after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank wants to be more confident that inflation is cooling before easing up on borrowing costs.

• In London, Currys (CURY.L) stock fell more than 11% after the open, after it said that Elliott had declined to make a formal takeover offer. Its approaches had been rejected by the company's board.

• Among other suitors is Chinese conglomerate JD.com (JD), which has a week to make an offer, according to UK takeover rules.

• Currys is listed in the FTSE 250 (^FTMC), which was 0.4% lower by the end of the day.

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LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER15 updates

That's all for now

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Thanks for reading! Head over to our US site for more market-moving news.

FTSE 100 rises slightly

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 12:08 p.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

The FTSE 100 seems to be staging a bit of a recovery from earlier in the session. It's now almost flat being supported by:

Admiral Group, up 4.2%

Imperial Brands, up 3.3%

Antofagasta, up 2.4%.

RTRS rate cut poll

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 10:48 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

POLL: 72 Of 108 Economists See First Fed Cut In June - RTRS
- 52 Of 108 Economists See Rate Cuts Of 75bps Or Less In 2024
- 26 Of 108 Economists See Rate Cuts Of 100bps Or Less In 2024
- 38 Of 44 Economists Say Bigger Risk March Dot Plot Shows Fewer Rate Cuts

— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) March 11, 2024

Nvidia in the spotlight (again)

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 10:13 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

As my US colleagues point out:

Nvidia's stock has been weakening all morning long in the pre-market following Friday's sharp intraday reversal that caught a lot of investor attention.

With macro data and earnings releases this week on the slower side, the action in Nvidia is likely to dictate the broader market's moves.

A call out from Deutsche Bank:

“In 2000 years I'm not sure if $250 billion has ever been wiped off a stock in 3 hours before. That's what happened to Nvidia on Friday as the stock went from being around +5% up to -6.5% down intraday before closing -5.55%. Then in after-hours trading on Friday, it was down almost another -3%. Remarkably it was still up +6.38% on the week, +21.3% in March so far, and has still posted a tenth week of consecutive gains. That said, the sell-off late in the week meant the S&P 500 (-0.65% Friday) was down -0.26% for the week, and just missed out on advancing for 17 of 19 weeks for the first time since 1964.”

US markets open

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Here's what US stocks are doing at the open:

Bitcoin price bump: an ETF update

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 7:57 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Some analysis on the big bitcoin price moves here from Matteo Greco, research analyst at Fineqia:

The robust price action continues to be fueled by the positive momentum of BTC Spot ETFs. Last week, the 10 BTC Spot ETFs witnessed a cumulative net inflow of approximately $2.2bn, bringing the total net inflow since inception close to $10bn, currently standing at $9.6bn. Notably, the nine newly launched ETFs collectively surpassed the $20bn net inflow milestone, with Blackrock BTC ETF alone recording more than $10bn in net inflow. However, it is essential to note that this inflow is partially offset by the continuous outflow recorded by the Grayscale BTC ETF, which was converted from its previous structure as a Trust and has seen about $10.5bn in outflow since inception.

The launch of BTC Spot ETFs has transformed the market structure, providing institutions with convenient, secure, and regulated entry points into the digital assets market. Major financial institutions are now actively involved in holding and trading BTC, catering to high-net-worth clients, thereby enhancing the significance and acceptance of digital assets within the financial industry. Following the introduction of ETFs, the market promptly experienced increased liquidity and trading volumes, indicating greater capital efficiency. This is further underscored by the notable increase in the average size of BTC transactions during 2024, reflecting heightened institutional activity in the market.

FTSE 100 top movers

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 6:54 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Miners are among the top fallers in the FTSE 100 this morning, with Glencore (GLEN.L), Anglo American (AAL.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) bringing up the rear.

Meanwhile, Ocado (OCDO.L) is out on top, up 4.5% alongside Admiral Group (ADM.L) and Imperial Brands (IMB.L).

M&S gets an upgrade

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 5:54 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) added 2% after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the retailer to “outperform” from “sector perform”.

"The M&S share price has come in 17% from recent highs, due to investor repositioning and concerns over the UK consumer and costs outlook," the bank said.

"But there has been no great change in its strong fundamentals in our view. At 10x CY24E P/E, the shares appear to be pricing no growth, but we think M&S can deliver this with a progressive cash returns policy, thus broadening its appeal to long term investors."

Saudi Aramco shares drop as it boosts dividend

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 5:52 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Oil major Saudi Aramco is one of our trending tickers this morning. Pedro Goncalves reports:

Saudi Aramco boosted its 2023 dividend by 30% despite a drop in annual net profit due to lower oil prices and output cuts.

The world's biggest oil company said profits fell 25% to $121bn (£91bn) after a record year in 2022. But the figure is still the second-highest profit ever for the Saudi state-backed company.

“The decrease mainly reflects the impact of lower crude oil prices and lower volumes sold, and weakening refining and chemicals margins,” the company said in its filing to the Tadawul stock market.

Aramco reported in its annual accounts that dividends to shareholders increased by 30% to $97.8bn in 2023.

The Saudi government, which directly holds about 82.2% of Aramco, relies heavily on the oil firm's payouts, which also include royalties and taxes.

The price of Brent crude, the benchmark oil price, fell from as high as nearly $120 a barrel in the middle of 2022 to as low as $67 a barrel last year.

Full story here

Air fryers in, hand sanitiser out: The UK's inflation basket shakeup

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 5:37 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

A person carries a shopping basket at a Sainsbury's store, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay (REUTERS / Reuters)

Hand sanitiser and sofa beds were the most high-profile casualties of the latest rejigging of the ONS "inflation basket", which contains everything from cucumbers and TV licences to compost and tissues, and is used to measure the annual inflation rate.

Post-COVID, demand for hand hygiene gel has fallen, resulting in a reduction in the shelf space devoted to the product and its removal from the basket, the ONS said.

These items, out of the 744 used in its calculations, have made way for groceries and appliances which suggest Britain is becoming more health conscious in its shopping habits. Rice cakes, spray oil, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and packaged salad are all newly-included items, alongside hot kitchen gadget the air fryer.

The ONS cited the fact that spending on cooking items such as air fryers increased by over 30% between 2021 and 2022. Air fryers are also an appliance primed for the energy conscious in a time when cash-strapped households are looking to save on bills, as they consume less energy than a standard oven.

Full story here

Bitcoin rallies (again)

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 4:57 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Bitcoin is rallying again, heading past the $71,200 mark, as it comes off new all-time highs. The cryptocurrency is up 2.3% in the last 24 hours.

The cryptoasset has been volatile in recent weeks despite its ascent. Friday's pullback from all-time highs liquidated $240m worth of leveraged derivatives trading positions across all digital assets, according to CoinGlass. On Tuesday, that figure was nearly $1.2bn,.

Pound wobbles

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 4:49 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

The pound (GBPUSD=X), which rallied last week into Friday, is having less of a good time on Monday morning, pulling back about 0.2% to trade above $1.28.

The rally last week was supported by a weaker dollar, as traders digested data such as the US jobs report.

Bloomberg has a report this morning which says its recent performance means it's beating 92% of global currencies due to strength in the economy. 11 currencies performed better, the report added, including FX in Kenya, Zambia and Sri Lanka.

US stocks

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 4:18 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Stocks ended the week with a thud, closing down on Friday, as investors pulled back after February's job report and market powerhouse Nvidia (NVDA) had a rare off-day.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.7% after logging another record close on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed 0.2%, with losses pared by a pop in Apple (AAPL) shares. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost 1.2% after a sharp gain the previous day. Shares of Nvidia fell more than 5% after a record-breaking hot streak.

Friday's non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy added 275,000 jobs in February, once again zooming past Wall Street expectations. However, the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, its first increase in four months.

Futures on the three major averages were trading in red figures ahead of the jobs data. The report bolstered investor confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut rates following its June meeting, but the momentum fizzled by the end of the trading day.

Overnight in Asia

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 4:15 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

It was a tale of two regions in Asia on Monday, with heavy selling in Japan versus buoyant stocks in Hong Kong.

The Nikkei (^N225) closed Monday 2.2% lower, snapping a historic run of all-time highs to fall to its worst day's loss since October. The government issued revised figures showing the economy grew 0.1% in the last quarter of 2023. It had previously registered at minus 0.1%.

That means the economy is not in a technical recession.

In Hong Kong (^HSI) stocks finished the day 1.3% higher as China's National People's Congress concluded. There are no big swings in policy expected by this mostly ceremonial body.

Good morning!

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 4:08 a.m. EDT, Lucy Harley-McKeown

Hello from London, it's beginning to feel a bit spring-like here, and stocks across China seem to agree — with a green day of trading.

No major data to watch for in the UK today. FTSE 100 futures are just a bit lower ahead of the open. Let's get to it.

Watch: Stocks in red as investors weigh strength of the economy and Fed expectations

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