News & Insight Weekly Newsletters

08 July 2022 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

  • A much stronger than expected US jobs report dampened fears of recession and fuelled expectations of more aggressive interest rate rises from the Federal Reserve
  • Non-farm payrolls grew by 372,000 in June, leaving the unemployment rate at a historically low level of 3.6%, just short of its pre-pandemic position
  • US Factory Orders in May increased 1.6% vs 0.5% expected with the prior period also revised higher
  • The UK government was left in disarray after an unprecedented number of ministerial resignations left Boris Johnson with no choice but to announce his resignation
  • Our deepest sympathies go the family of former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, following his tragic shooting on Friday

COMPANY NEWS

  • Persimmon’s trading update showed planning delays and labour shortages resulting in slightly lower forward guidance
  • Meanwhile, rival UK housebuilder Vistry showed strong demand across all areas of its business and forecast profits at the top end of market expectations
  • It was reported that Merck was nearing an agreement to purchase cancer focused biotech firm Seagen for around $40bn
  • Legal & General released an upbeat trading statement showing strong solvency and double-digit growth in cash and capital generation over the first half of 2022

SMALL CAP NEWS

Following results from Kingspan there were worries about activity in the construction space, but Michelmersh (the brick specialist) stated that, based on current trading and its forward orderbook, it remains on track to meet full year expectations. Trading has continued to be positive in Q2 with H1 revenue of at least £33m expected (+10% YoY). To protect margins in an inflationary backdrop, the group has maintained appropriate pricing including the introduction of a price increase at the start of July

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1889: The first issue of the Wall Street Journal edited by Charles Dow. Edward Davis Jones managed the deskwork

1995: Following the monetary tightening cycle that started in 1994 (which saw the Federal Reserve double interest rates to 6% in seven rapid-fire hikes – including one 75bps and two 50bps moves), Chairman, Alan Greenspan, announces that inflationary pressures have receded enough to warrant a rate cut

IN OTHER NEWS

The Grapevine © let us know that European Fintech darling and leader within the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ space, Klarna, is reportedly raising more money at a $6.5bn valuation (about 1/7th of its last valuation in June 2021). It could be worse though: there are rumours that crypto lender BlockFi could be sold for as little as $25m to FTX (a 99% drop in valuation)

MARKET DATA

% returns

1 Week

1 Month

1 Year

5 Years

UK Equities (% return)

0.54

-5.53

-1.45

-1.48

World Equities (% return)

1.92

-5.44

-10.26

40.04

10 Year US Treasury Yield (%)

3.01

2.98

1.30

2.39

GBP / USD (fx rate)

1.20

1.25

1.39

1.29

 As at 8th July 2022. Source: Financial Express

 

 

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