A Bright Day for US and UK Markets after Labor Day Weekend
EWU rose by 3.55%
The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWU) returned 3.55% on September 8. Out of its 109 constituent stocks, 102 stocks rose on the day. The graph below shows the stock movement of the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWU) over the past week to date.
The top three stocks on September 8 were Aggreko (AGK), Glencore (GLEN), and Anglo American (AAL). They returned 4.92%, 4.40%, and 3.87%, respectively, on September 8. Of these, GLEN and AAL belong to the mining industry.
Aggreko’s (AGK) acquisition of ICS Group let the company enter the North American temporary heating solutions market. This acquisition not only expanded the customer base to AGK, but also added skilled resources to the company. This will indeed be a positive move for the company in the coming years.
Glencore’s chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, announced the company’s decision to close two of its African copper mines. The mines proved unprofitable amid the slump in demand for materials and commodities. However, the closure of the mines will lead to a fall in the supply of copper, which is expected to raise the copper commodity prices by 4%-5%.
Now, we’ll look at the stocks that were at the bottom of EWU on September 8. These stocks were Whitbread (WTB), Next (NXT), and Ashtead (AHT). The stocks yielded -1.59%, -0.92%, and -0.66%, respectively, on the day.
UK market is hopeful about Eurozone’s GDP increase
According to a Eurostat report, Eurozone’s revised GDP (gross domestic product) figure shows an increase of 0.4% in the period from April through June 2015. This increase in the GDP figures for the last quarter was good news for UK investors. The day also saw a 2.9% rise in the Shanghai Composite Index.
UK investors hope for further corrective measures by the Chinese government, which might calm the volatility in the Chinese markets. The Germany benchmark index outperformed on September 8 with the Recon Capital DAX Germany ETF (DAX) returning 2.20%.
Germany came out with a strong set of import and export trade data, which hit a record high in July 2015. German exports increased by 2.4%, while imports rose by 2.2% month-over-month. This data assured the European Union of the robust demand despite Chinese slowdown. Thus, September 8 saw a rise in EWU and many stocks like BP (BP), BHP Billiton (BHP), Rio Tinto (RIO), and HSBC Holdings (HSBC).
For insight into worldwide central bank policies, read our series on Global Central Bank Policies for Week Ended September 4.