- FTSE opens up
- Tech stocks drag on US Indices
- Asian stocks wobble as tariff deadline looms
- US job openings point to resilient jobs market
- Tesla deliveries in focus today as Trump Musk spat ratchets up
- Greggs feels the heat as flaming June dents sales
- Brent crude oil prices flat at close to $65 per barrel
Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“The FTSE 100 has opened up 0.4% this morning with its tech-light bias reflecting yesterday’s movements on Wall Street. In what was broadly a sea of green for US stocks, a number of big tech names stood out as islands of red. Overnight, it was a less positive session for Asian stocks with uncertainty remaining high ahead of the 9 July tariff negotiation deadline, which Donald Trump is claiming he won’t extend further. He’s upped the pressure on Japan to come to a deal too, threatening to slap on 30% or 35% import taxes.
Markets have also taken Jay Powell’s suggestion that the Fed may consider a July rate cut with a pinch of salt. US job openings unexpectedly rose to 7.8 million in May, ahead of expectations of a small drop to 7.3 million. That’s hardly a sign of heat coming out of the economy and the numbers helped to drive a small rise in short-term treasury yields. Investors and rate setters will be closely watching more key employment figures due later today. Non-farm payrolls are expected to have slowed to 129,000 and analysts’ projections suggest a slight rise in unemployment from 4.2% to 4.3%.
Tesla was the biggest faller in the “Magnificent Seven” yesterday as the Trump/Musk spat escalated to new levels. The President’s ‘big beautiful bill’, which would remove incentives on electric cars, moved one step closer to reality narrowly winning a vote in the Senate. Musk’s touting the idea of launching his own political party if the bill goes through, while Trump’s floated the prospect of deporting the Tesla chief. Today’s attention shifts to Tesla’s quarterly delivery report which is expected to show a decline of around 11% to 384,380 units.
Sausage rolls may not be the first thing consumers yearn for when temperatures get into the 30s and that’s been the case for Greggs. While cold drink sales were up in June, when customers flake in the heat, flaky bakes aren’t first choice on the menu and footfall declined for the month. That’s taken the sheen off like-for-like sales, which were up a respectable 2.6% in the first half. But with annual cost inflation anticipated at 6%, today’s trading update conceded that full-year operating profit could be modestly below the levels seen in 2024.
Brent crude oil prices are steady today at around $65 per barrel. US inventories haven’t stuck to the script rising by 0.7mn barrels last week, compared to expectations of a 2.3 million barrel drawdown. That’s broken a four-week run of declines raising concerns that North American demand may not be quite as robust as it appeared to be. Meanwhile, continued uncertainty over tariffs is casting a shadow over the global stage.
