FTSE 100
The FTSE 100 is rising ahead of key earnings by Rentokil, Schroders, Meggitt, and Melrose Industries. The index is trading at 6,600, which is slightly above yesterday’s low of 6,581.
What happened: The FTSE 100 declined slightly yesterday after the latest annual budget speech by Rishi Sunak. In it, he announced the first corporate tax increase in 25 years to help finance some of the government’s priorities.
At the same time, he said that the government will continue its furlough program to September and extend the stamp duty pause for three months. Therefore, the FTSE index constituents got a mixed bag from the speech.
Earnings in focus: After the budget, focus will be on key corporate earnings. Some of the big FTSE 100 companies that will publish their earnings are Meggitt and Melrose, two companies in the industrial sector. Rentokil, the pest control company, and Schroders, the fund management firm will also publish their results. Other companies in the FTSE 100 that will release are Aviva and Entain.
The FTSE 100 index is trading at 6,600. On the four-hour chart, the price is between the 50% and 61.8% Fibonacci retracement levels. It is also a few points below the short and medium-term moving averages. The index is also forming a symmetrical triangle pattern, also it is not yet well-defined. Therefore, in the near term, I suspect that the index will remain in the current range.
