FTSE 100 LIVE: Stock fall as UK government borrowing jumps to £20.2bn in April
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were lower on Thursday as traders digested the latest UK borrowing figures for April.
According to the Office for National Statistics, UK government borrowing rose to £20.2bn during the month — £1bn more than the previous year, and the fourth-highest April borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. This was also up from £16.4bn in March.
In a blow to chancellor Rachel Reeves, city economists had forecast a deficit of around £18bn.
ONS deputy director for public sector finances Rob Doody said: 'Receipts were up on last April, thanks partly to the higher rate of national insurance contributions. However, this was outweighed by greater spending, due to rising public services' running costs and increases in many benefits and state pensions.'
London's benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.6% down in early trade.
Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dipped 0.8% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris also headed 0.8% into the red.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) slipped 0.8%.
Wall Street is set for a positive start as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green.
The pound was 0.1% up against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3433.
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The three major US stock indexes were down more than 1% each yesterday following a poor performing auction for US government bonds. The dollar also fell broadly.
Treasury yields extended their gains after the US Treasury Department saw soft demand for the $16bn sale of 20-year bonds. The weak bond sale reinforced the view that investors are shying away from US assets.
The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes rose to 4.605% from 4.511% a day earlier.
At the same time, concerns continued about US president Donald Trump's efforts to push through a tax-cutting bill that could worsen the debt load by $3tn to $5tn.
Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 1.91%, to 41,860.01, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.6%, to 5,844.55, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 1.4%, to 18,872.64.
Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy.
Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today:
7am: Trading updates: BT, British Land, QinetiQ, Bloomsbury Publishing, Tate & Lyle, Investec, easyJet, Intertek, ConvaTec, Hill & Smith
7am: UK public finances for April
9am: Eurozone 'flash' PMI report for May
9am: IFO survey of eurozone business confidence
9.30am: UK 'flash' PMI report for May
11am: CBI industrial trends
1.30pm: US weekly jobless claimsThe three major US stock indexes were down more than 1% each yesterday following a poor performing auction for US government bonds. The dollar also fell broadly.
Treasury yields extended their gains after the US Treasury Department saw soft demand for the $16bn sale of 20-year bonds. The weak bond sale reinforced the view that investors are shying away from US assets.
The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes rose to 4.605% from 4.511% a day earlier.
At the same time, concerns continued about US president Donald Trump's efforts to push through a tax-cutting bill that could worsen the debt load by $3tn to $5tn.
Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 1.91%, to 41,860.01, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.6%, to 5,844.55, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 1.4%, to 18,872.64.
Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy.
Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today:
7am: Trading updates: BT, British Land, QinetiQ, Bloomsbury Publishing, Tate & Lyle, Investec, easyJet, Intertek, ConvaTec, Hill & Smith
7am: UK public finances for April
9am: Eurozone 'flash' PMI report for May
9am: IFO survey of eurozone business confidence
9.30am: UK 'flash' PMI report for May
11am: CBI industrial trends
1.30pm: US weekly jobless claims
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