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Asset manager Payden & Rygel warns investors against blaming the US Federal Reserve for the market rout

US stocks wavered at the opening bell Friday my colleagues from across the pond write, as Wall Street looked to end a volatile week on a high note. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slumped 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) edged lower by 0.2%.

Markets are nearing the end of the most volatile week of the 2024 campaign. Monday saw the worst rout of the year, and Wall Street's "fear gauge" — the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) — soared to its highest levels since the throes of the pandemic.

Mountain Warehouse has pledged to open more stores across the UK amid a boom in demand for outdoor clothing.

The retail chain said it has opened 20 stores over the past six months and has a “strong” pipeline of new locations, including more shops at retail parks.

It came as the company revealed it returned to a profit over the year to February 2024 after more shoppers returned to stores.

Mountain Warehouse delivered a £26.2m pre-tax profit for the year, jumping from a £1.5m loss a year earlier as it continued to be weighed down from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company, which employs around 3,700 people across the UK, said this was buoyed by record sales over the year.

Revenues jumped by 4% to £386m, boosted by a 7.1% improvement from its stores.

The VIX (^VIX) index, which is a gauge of investor uncertainty, is back where it started the week after jumping 181% in Monday’s market rout.

UK mortgage rates have dipped this week, as lenders compete to attract customers:

Data provider Moneyfacts reports:

• The average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 5.70%. This is down from 5.74% the previous working day.

• The average five-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 5.33%. This is down from 5.36% the previous working day.

Read more about the best UK mortgage deals here

Bellway (BWY.L) sales beat expectations in the first half but the housebuilder saw revenues drop by £1bn.

New home completions fell to 7,654 homes, from 10,945 in the previous year, with the overall average selling price of those falling to around £308,000, from £310,306. However, both totals were slightly ahead of previous guidance.

Chief executive Jason Honeyman said: “The improving trading backdrop, combined with the strength of our outlet opening programme, has generated healthy growth in the year-end order book. As a result, we are in a strong position to return to growth in financial year 2025, as previously guided.”

Bellway revenues fell 31% from £3.4bn a year ago to £2.4bn, ahead of analysts' average forecast of £2.27bn.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The relative stability of mortgage rates has also reignited some customer buying interest, and it seems that the pressure on rates amid a healthily competitive arena will be downwards.

"Despite a cut to the dividend in July, Bellway still yields 4.2%, which is of some attraction to income-seeking investors. The shares have risen by 20% over the last year, as compared to a gain of 8.3% for the wider FTSE250, with the market consensus of the shares as a cautious buy reflecting the guarded optimism which is beginning to pervade the UK housing sector.”

Chinese inflation rose more than expected in July to hit a five-month high, official data showed, allaying fears about deflation in the world’s second largest economy.

Inflation was lifted by a surge in pork prices, according to CNBC:

Asian shares are ended a rough week on a high as Japanese stocks are close to recouping all of the huge losses from Monday.

The Nikkei (^N225) rose 0.6% on the day in Tokyo. It has erased most of the losses from a 13% crash on Monday and finished the week 3% lower.

Meanwhile the Hang Seng (^HSI) jumped 1.2% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was the outlier across Asia-Pacific markets, slipping 0.3%

The turmoil in global markets could last for months, analysts at Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) have warned, amid efforts to close so-called “carry trades” which have been heavily squeezed.

The investment bank said major investors face further pain as the Japanese yen will likely strengthen further.

Bob Savage, head of markets strategy and insights at BNY, said: “Expect the pain for yen shorts to remain in play for the weeks, if not months ahead.

“Further risk reductions are going to follow and August will continue to be a highly volatile month.”

US stocks took a leap higher Thursday after weekly initial jobless claims fell more than forecast in a reassuring update on the health of the US labor market. From our US team:

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 2.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) rallied nearly 2.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up almost 1.8%, or more than 650 points. Thursday marked the S&P 500's largest one-day gain since November 2022.

The normally routine jobless claim update found itself in the spotlight Thursday amid increasing scrutiny on the labor market, as last week's sluggish non-farm payrolls update served as one of the earliest catalysts of the recent declines.

Government data showed that there were 233,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending 3 August, down from 250,000 last week and fewer than what economists had forecast.

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L) has agreed to a takeover offer worth £5.44bn from a consortium including buyout giant CVC Capital Partners and the Abu Dhabi wealth fund.

Hargreaves Lansdown shareholders will get 1,110 pence per share and a dividend of 30 pence per share under the deal, the company said.

Hargreaves Lansdown chair Alison Platt said in a statement that the offer “represents an attractive opportunity for HL Shareholders.”

The group of bidders includes buyout giant CVC, alongside Nordic Capital, and Platinum Ivy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The consortium is owned in equal parts by the three firms.

Hargreaves also published its full-year results today, showing total revenues up 4% to £765m and profit before tax down 2% to £396m.

A 43.2p dividend was announced.