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On Monday, HSBC increased its rating on British stocks from neutral to overweight, pointing to their low valuations, rising commodity prices and bond yields, as well as the attractive dividend yields of UK shares and the resolution of the long-standing issue of pension fund selling. They also raised their target price for the FTSE 100 index to 8,750 points, indicating a potential 4% increase from its current level. The FTSE 100 was hugging the flatline into the close down 0.04%% on Monday, coming close to it’s all-time high reached on Wednesday.Budget airline easyJet experienced a decrease in stock value following a report of higher annual profits from its competitor Ryanair. However, Ryanair also warned of softer summer airfares than expected. Despite this, easyJet’s profit after tax increased by 34% to €1.9bn in the 12 months to March 30, with a 9% rise in demand to 184 million passengers. Additionally, revenue surged by 25% to €13.4bn.Imperial Brands saw a decline in stock value after Jefferies raised its target price on the shares due to strong first-half results. However, Jefferies maintained a ‘hold’ rating, stating that pressures are mounting for the company.UK investors will be watching Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey’s speech, followed by UK data releases, particularly Wednesday’s inflation report, which is expected to show a significant decrease in annual headline CPI inflation. Core inflation is also anticipated to decrease but remains higher than the headline rate.On the positive side of the ledger Fresnillo, a miner of precious metals, saw significant gains as the prices of gold and silver surged, leading to miner to the top of blue chip index with a 3%+ gain on the day.
FTSE Bias: Bullish Above Bearish below 8389
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