Rolling coverage of the global markets as Middle East tensions subside, just a week after US strikes killed a top Iranian official 9.02am GMT An update has been issued on the winding up of the Woodford Equity Income Fund. Its administrator Link Fund Solutions says BlackRock has raised around £1.9bn through the sale of assets, which represents around 63% of the value of the total fund. This change to the timetable is required to ensure that investors retain exposure to the equity market for the entire period prior to the Fund being wound up as required by the regulations. This delay also allows a significant portion of the Fund“s holdings in money market instruments to be liquidated in a way that minimises costs to the Fund. 8.34am GMT Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK says the de-escalation in the Middle East has allowed traders to re-focus on positive news around next week“s signing of the US-China trade pact (at least the first phase of it...)US employment report in focus, though US, Iran tensions still remain a worryhttps://t.co/fYHCqZUyR0 #NFP #forex @CMCMarketsThey say a week is a long time in politics, and this week it“s also been true for financial markets, given some of the hyperbolic talk of World War Three that was doing the rounds early on Monday morning. In the space of a few days we appear to have swung full circle; with investors seemingly convinced that the problems in the Middle East appear to have settled down, at least for the time being.With this week“s geopolitical risk subsiding as we head towards the weekend, investors now have the opportunity to focus on the signing of the signing of the new US, China phase one trade deal next week, as well as the health of the US economy today, and in particular the labour market which has continued to look resilient. Continue reading...
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