The FTSE 100 rose cautiously as investors reacted on corporate earnings from UK and other European companies. The index is trading at £6150, which is within the range it has been in the past three days. Other indices in Europe are mixed, with the DAX index falling by 0.20%, CAC 40 rising by 0.70% and the Stoxx 50 being little changed.
Barclays shares are among the worst performing in the FTSE 100 as investors react to the company’s corporate earnings. As we reported earlier, the company’s overall revenue grew to £11 billion in the first half of the year. But like all other banks, the company allocated more than £1.6 billion to provisions for bad debt. As a result, it’s profit declined by 66% in the first half of the year. This loss was partially offset by a 45% increase in trading revenue.
On the other hand, Next PLC share price is the best-performing in the FTSE 100 as investors react to its upbeat results. The company said that its sales dropped by 28% in the second quarter. This decline was slightly better than what analysts were expecting. Online sales rose by 9%. Also, it saved £280 million from cancelling stock. It intends to save more money later in the year with better warehousing strategies.
Other top movers in the FTSE 100 today are Taylor Wimpey, Smith & Nephew, Barratt Developments, IAG, and Melrose Industries. All these shares have dropped by more than 2%. On the other hand, the biggest gainers in the FTSE 100 are Next, Smurfit Kappa Group, Burberry, ITV, and AVEVA that are all up by more than 2%.
The FTSE 100 is trading at £6150, which is within the range it has been in the pats three days. Also, the price is slightly below the 50-day and 100-day EMA. Also, it is a few points below the 50% Fibonacci retracement level. Most importantly, the index is below the ascending trend line that is shown in green below. Therefore, I expect the FTSE 100 to continue moving lower as bears target the next support at £6,000.
On the flip side, a move above £6,200 will invalidate this trend. This price is slightly above the 50-day EMA and is also above the ascending trend line.