Morning Call by Traders University

The FTSE 100 slipped 20 points yesterday to close at 3,968.40 as an early rally in mining stocks reversed. While news that Goldman Sachs had turned a profit in the first quarter buoyed investors, economic news has been gloomier since, news releases included US retail sales down and Swiss bank UBS announcing further job losses. Legal & General led the index into negative territory, declining by 8.44 per cent, followed by Vedanta Resources, which was 7.99 per cent down. The miners also took a hit with the firm Xstrata falling 6.68 per cent, while Antofagasta dropped 6.36 per cent. However, defensive stocks lent support, including British American Tobacco, which was trading 4.62 per cent higher, and energy supplier Centrica, which rose 3.52 per cent. Stocks on Wall Street shook off the tentative mood that dominated much of the day’s trading to finish strongly ahead for the fourth time in five days. A belief that prospects for consumer-staples and industrial shares have improved helped sway investor sentiment along with American Express saying growth in bad loans slowed. The main Dow Jones index jumped 109.44 points, or 1.4%, to 8029.62 while the S&P 500 added 1.3% to 852.06. Today on FX news the US Building Permits and Unemployment Claims are due to be released at 12.30.