Sector movers: Stocks reel as central banks tighten policy and amid economic worries
Stocks fell sharply on Thursday as the Bank of England raised interest rates as expected and the Swiss National Bank surprised with a 50bp hike, with the latter, in particular, feeding talk in markets of recessionary risks.
Worth noting, overnight the US Federal had also surprised, but with a 75bp move and left the door open to another such increment in short-term rates for when policymakers next met in July.
Related to the above, Asos and Boohoo Group both delivered disappointing updates "as consumers looked to pare back spending, while the underlying business struggles to maintain margins against a backdrop of rising costs," said Michael Hewson, chief market analysts at CMC Markets UK.
And yet, for Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, the contents of Thursday's Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes revealed that "suggests that there now is a big range of views on the MPC regarding the extent to which Bank Rate needs to rise further—if at all—to cool the economy further; speeches over the coming weeks from individual members will be key to clarifying the balance of opinion."
Oil and Gas names also weakened as front-dated Brent futures slipped for a fifth day, even if only slightly, although the sector has been one of investors' favourite segments of the market in recent months.
Industrial Metals & Mining were also weaker alongside drops in the commodity prices such as copper despite a pronounced pull-back in the Greenback.
Top performing sectors so far today
Investment Banking and Brokerage Services 11,666.34 +1.44%
Alternative Energy 0.00 0.00%
Alternative Investment Instruments NULL 0.00%
Automobiles and related providers NULL 0.00%
Banking NULL 0.00%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Household Goods & Home Construction 12,406.76 -5.85%
Oil, Gas and Coal 7,372.30 -5.17%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 8,087.78 -4.78%
Automobiles & Parts 1,763.68 -4.10%
Industrial Metals & Mining 7,225.26 -3.67%