Asian Open Wall Street Lower as Covid and Jobs Opening Rise

The FTSE is trading almost half a percent lower this morning on a mix of corporate results and lingering uncertainty over Brexit. The oil sector took the hardest hit with BP reporting a 41% drop in net profits on a mix of lower oil prices during the last quarter and impairment charges linked to the sale of one of its US units.

Election vote to be repeated Tuesday

Though the Prime Minister lost the vote on a general election on Monday, MPs will vote again on Tuesday on what is legally a different proposal which amounts to the same thing. The vote on Monday required the PM to have a two-thirds majority for the election to go ahead, the vote on Tuesday is a much more simple affair with only one-line bill which requires only a simple majority to pass. The currency market seems fairly cautious about the prospect of a general election and its potential outcomes with the pound sliding to $1.2818. Sterling is also weaker against the dollar, down 0.20%.

Dollar firms ahead of Fed rate meeting

The dollar is a touch stronger as the Federal Reserve goes into its rate setting meeting Tuesday which is widely expected to conclude with another rate cut, possibly the last one for the moment as the central bank monitors the slowing growth of the US economy. US GDP data later this week is expected to show a mild contraction in growth from 2% in the previous quarter to around 1.8% in the third.

The FTSE is trading almost half a percent lower this morning on a mix of corporate results and lingering uncertainty over Brexit. The oil sector took the hardest hit with BP reporting a 41% drop in net profits on a mix of lower oil prices during the last quarter and impairment charges linked to the sale of one of its US units.

Election vote to be repeated Tuesday

Though the Prime Minister lost the vote on a general election on Monday, MPs will vote again on Tuesday on what is legally a different proposal which amounts to the same thing. The vote on Monday required the PM to have a two-thirds majority for the election to go ahead, the vote on Tuesday is a much more simple affair with only one-line bill which requires only a simple majority to pass. The currency market seems fairly cautious about the prospect of a general election and its potential outcomes with the pound sliding to $1.2818. Sterling is also weaker against the dollar, down 0.20%.

Dollar firms ahead of Fed rate meeting

The dollar is a touch stronger as the Federal Reserve goes into its rate setting meeting Tuesday which is widely expected to conclude with another rate cut, possibly the last one for the moment as the central bank monitors the slowing growth of the US economy. US GDP data later this week is expected to show a mild contraction in growth from 2% in the previous quarter to around 1.8% in the third.