The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks tumbled on Friday as US officials reported Israeli retaliatory strikes on Iran.
Traders have been cautiously watching Israel’s reaction to Iran's drone and missile attack last weekend, with concerns that a worsening conflict in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies.
Brent Crude (BZ=F) jumped as much as 3.5% on the back of the news and is now trading 1% higher at $87.97.
London’s benchmark index was 0.7% lower in early trade
Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dipped 1% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.7% into the red
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was down 0.7%
Wall Street is set to open in negative territory as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all lower
UK retail sales stalled unexpectedly in March
Revenues at 888 beat forecasts for past quarter
Follow along for live updates throughout the day:
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is about to undergo a halving, cutting the rewards for miners in half to reduces the pace at which new bitcoins enter the market.
It occurs approximately every four years to create scarcity and potentially impact the cryptocurrency's price.
Bitcoin has already surged by over 45% since the beginning of the year, and many analysts believe that the supply crunch caused by the halving, combined with increased demand through spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), could further propel the price even further.
This week's episode of Yahoo Finance Future Focus delves into the reasons behind the bitcoin halving and examines the potential impact this event will have on the price of the largest digital asset by market capitalisation.
Read why here: What is bitcoin halving and how will it impact its price?
UK retail sales stalled unexpectedly last month as shoppers scaled back their spending on food and at department stories.
The volume of goods sold in stores and online came in unchanged in March after a revised 0.1% gain the month before, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had expected an 0.3% increase.
Retail sales grew 1.9% in the first quarter, meaning the sector contributed 0.09 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP) during the period.
The economy as a whole is expected to have expanded 0.2%, according to the median of forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
Fuel sales provided a lift for the weak figures. Excluding auto fuel, overall sales fell 0.3% in March, erasing a gain of the same size the month before.
Heather Bovill, senior statistician at the ONS, said:
"Retail sales registered no growth in March. Hardware stores, furniture shops, petrol stations and clothing stores all reported a rise in sales.
"However, these gains were offset by falling food sales and in department stores where retailers say higher prices hit trading.
"Looking at the longer term picture, across the latest three months retail sales increased after a poor Christmas."
Retail sales showed no growth in March 2024, following a revised increase of 0.1% in February 2024.
➡️ https://t.co/65yQJqIxlh pic.twitter.com/xIwzMNwnVm
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (ONS) April 19, 2024
Stocks in Asia plunged overnight as tensions in the Middle East weighed on sentiment.
The Nikkei (^N225) tumbled 2.7% on the day in Japan, its largest drop in more than three years, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 0.9% in Hong Kong. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.3% down by the end of the session.
It came as oil prices jumped around $3 after Iran fired air defence batteries early on Friday morning following reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan.
Across the pond, US indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Thursday.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.2% to 5,011.12 after bouncing between small gains and losses throughout the day. It was the fifth consecutive loss and the longest losing streak since October. The index is now sitting 4.6% below its record set late last month.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) managed to edge up 01% to 37,775.38, while the Nasdaq Composite index (^IXIC) slipped 0.5%, to 15,601.50.
Good morning, and welcome back to our live markets blog. Here we'll be covering what's moving markets and happening across the global economy.
Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today...
12pm: UK GFK consumer confidence
7am: UK retail sales for March
7am: Trading updates: 888 Holdings, Woodside Energy
2pm: IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting continues in Washington DC
3.15pm: Bank of England deputy governor Dave Ramsden on panel about lessons to learn from post-pandemic inflation
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