Wealth Management news

Early Trading

UK stocks are set to open lower this morning as investors look ahead to the Easter weekend and the oil price continued to influence market sentiment.

World Markets

UK stocks fell with the FTSE 100 heading for a third weekly drop. Vedanta Resources Plc and Anglo American Plc led commodity producers lower. BP Plc added 3.1% after a US judge ruled it had dumped less oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 than the government calculated, decreasing the maximum fine it may face.

US stocks rose, with the S&P 500 turning positive for 2016 in the wake of a dovish Federal Reserve that helped the index post its longest weekly winning streak since November.

Asian stocks fell, retreating from a three-month high, as commodity producers lowered. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Chinese stocks, however, were up as China Securities Finance Corp. said it will boost lending to brokerages for their margin trading business.

Headlines

A UK exit from the EU would cause a ‘serious economic shock’, potentially costing the country £100bn and nearly one million jobs, according to a report commissioned by the CBI (Confederation of British Industry). The business lobby group said a study found that a vote to leave would have ‘negative echoes’ lasting many years. But Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said employment and the economy would continue to grow after an exit.

Rolls-Royce will this week pledge to create 350 new jobs over the next year at its historic engine factory in Derby, in an effort to allay political concerns over the future of the group’s UK manufacturing operations after a string of profit warnings.