Refinitiv Newscasts - UK Day Ahead: Investors grow despondent amid more nationwide lockdowns
29/10/2020 15:34
Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_ccxws1gf&referenceId=1_ccxws1gf&pageId=RefinitivNewscasts Source: Reuters Insider Description: Investors are growing increasingly despondent as France and Germany reimpose lockdowns. The European Central Bank resists pressure to unveil more stimulus. Analysts predict a fall in consumer spending for September. Short Link: https://refini.tv/3e5obc9 Video Transcript: Good afternoon. I'm Helena Carter, and welcome to your wrap up of today's top news and an insight into what's coming up on Friday. Well, let's kick off with the markets and it's been a skittish day for traders. Stocks opened modestly higher but have steadily lost ground throughout the day. Investors are growing increasingly despondent as the number of countries re-imposed lockdowns, including France and Germany. Niall Gallagher, Investment Director for European equities at GAM, says things look quite bleak but there's a potential for a vaccine to emerge around the turn of the year. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank left policy unchanged, resisting pressure to unveil more stimulus. But it did provide the clearest hint yet of fresh easing at its next meet in December. ECB President Christine Lagarde says the pandemic poses major risks to economic growth. The Euro area economic recovery is losing momentum more rapidly than expected after a strong, yet partial and uneven, rebound in economic activity over the summer months. The rise in COVID-19 cases and the associated intensification of containment measures is weighing on activity. Oil prices have extended yesterday's sharp decline as concerns about further coronavirus lockdowns grow. Brent crude and WTI futures have fallen as COVID-19 cases surged across Europe. Commerzbank believe it's increasing likely that oil production will be stepped up from January. The British government says it will do everything it can to avoid putting the country into a second national lockdown. It says it believes it can control the virus with tough local measures. Pressure is mounting, though, on the UK to bring in nationwide restrictions after France and Germany ordered new lockdowns. A new study by Imperial College says nearly 100,000 people are catching the virus in the UK every day. These are difficult balanced judgements and, obviously, we keep them under review. People would expect us to do so and keep following the scientific advice that we're receiving. But the judgement that we're making today is that if we follow the regionalized approach, we've got a good prospect of getting this under control, because the alternative we know is very destructive and damaging to people's livelihoods. That matters because the scarring effect of unemployment stays with families and individuals for a very long time. UK mortgage lending hit a 13-year high during September. Approvals for house purchase jumped to more than 91,000, exceeding all forecasts. Activity in Britain's housing market has rebounded sharply since the end of lockdown restrictions. It's being further fueled by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak temporarily suspending property purchase taxes in July. Other companies likely to make the headlines include Air France-KLM which publishes Q3 results. The group is struggling with new lockdowns in France and elsewhere. Oil major Total also reports its third quarter. The UK's NatWest Group is also out with its Q3. Investors will be looking out for how the taxpayer-owned bank is coping with further local COVID-19 restrictions. Reinsurer, Swiss Re, presents its results for the first nine months of the year amid rising claims for pandemic-related losses and natural disaster in North America. Spanish banks BBVA, CaixaBank, and Santander will update investors on their respective third quarters. And LafargeHolcim, the world's largest cement maker, gives an update from its third quarter. Elsewhere on the economic front, France's economy probably grew by 15.4% during the third quarter. That's compared with a contraction of almost 14% during the previous three months. Consumer spending data for September is also out. Analysts expect a slight fall. Germany reports its retail sales figures for September, while the UK's Nationwide produces its monthly House Price Index. Well, that's all for now. I'm Helena Carter, and this is Reuters