Morning Call by Traders University

Yesterday the FTSE closed down 13 points at 4,468. This 0.3% fall apposes the gains in the other major European exchanges where the Paris CAC gained 0.8%, and the Frankfurt DAX gained 1.6%. The mining sector lead the gains on the FTSE whereas the banks fell away slightly. FX news: Yesterday we saw that the Canadian consumer prices fall more than expected in April to 0.4% on an annualized basis from 1.2 per cent in March, the lowest in fourteen years. A 2.5% decline in energy costs led to a 0.1% drop of inflation during the month of April. The Pound’s bullish sentiment was bolstered by the BoE minutes which showed the central bank was unanimous in keeping rates on hold at 0.50% and expanding their quantitative easing efforts. Today, Switzerland, France and Germany countries are on holiday. Key news includes British Retail Sales out at 9:30, predicted to rise by 0.5% from 0.3% (indicating the change in the total value of inflation-adjusted sales at retail). At 13:30 we have US Unemployment Claims, expected to drop from 637K to 630K. Yesterday the Dow Jones fell 52 points, or 0.6% to 8,422. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell by 0.5%, to 903 and the Nasdaq fell just 6 points, or 0.4%, to 1,727. US Bank stocks led the fall after the Fed announced that unemployment in the US could reach 9.6%.