Morning Call by Traders University

The FTSE 100 responded uneasily to the Budget, rising 43 points back over the 4,000 mark. The UK’s top share index dropped immediately after the Budget, which contained some gloomy predictions for the economy. But the market rallied by the end of the afternoon, closing 1.08 per cent up at 4,030.66, the FTSE 100 was lifted by banking and retail stocks.
From the US, volatile financial stocks steered the market for the third day in a row after Morgan Stanley and Capital One Financial Corp. posted lackluster quarterly reports, with investors worried about rising levels of souring debt on bank balance sheets.
A late-session drop in banks left Wall Street’s major benchmarks mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 83 points or 1 per cent, to 7886.57, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index ended modestly higher rising 2.27 or 0.1 per cent, to 1646.12, ahead of a quarterly report from eBay Inc.
In forex news, the euro continued its rise against the dollar yesterday while sterling fell sharply as the UK government issued grim forecasts in its annual budget. The yen rose to a three-week high against the dollar. In data releases today at 9:00am for the CHF, Gov Board Member Hilderbrand speaks and then at 10:00am GBP CBI Industrial Order Expectations are due. At 12.30pm, CAD Core Retail Sales m/m are due with the expectation of a slight reduction. Also at 12.30pm, USD Unemployment claims are due, followed by Existing Home Sales at 2.00pm. At 2.30pm, the CAD BOC Monetary Policy Report is released with Gov Carney speaking at 3.15pm.