Gold Price Rises, Barclays Shares Fall

Mining and retail stocks have made significant gains, but disappointing full-year results from Barclays has meant the bank's share prices has fallen

Alliance News 11 February, 2014 | 11:36AM
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Stock indices have made strong gains Tuesday morning, led higher by the mining and retail stocks, on the back of rising precious metal prices and strong bumper retail sales data. Meanwhile Barclays leads the blue chip fallers after reporting its full-year results.

An unexpectedly strong report on UK retail sales has boosted retailers. The British Retail Consortium sales monitor recorded 3.9% year-on-year sales growth in January, smashing expectations of 0.8% and recording the strongest sales growth since March 2010.

Barclays (BARC) is in focus again Tuesday. Having made headlines due to a data breach at the weekend and by pre-releasing its headline profit figure on Monday, the bank leads the FTSE 100 fallers after reporting its full results. The headline profit was already known from Monday's announcement, but there has been some disappointment on cost cutting, according to analysts.

One cost-cutting measure that has been announced may prove controversial. The bank has said that it will cut 7,000 jobs this year, even as it increased its investment banking bonus pool by 10%.

The Industrial Metals sector is up 3.2%, and the Mining sector up 1.2%, boosted by firmer metals pricing and some positive news.

Gold has had a positive run in recent sessions, helped along by the cuts to the US monetary stimulus program and helped further by safe-haven flow Tuesday, ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's address to Congress later.

Gold is holding on to overnight gains against the dollar, currently trading at $1,283.

"A strong start to the week continues this morning, with the major European benchmarks in the green for the 5th day in a row before Fed Chair Janet Yellen takes centre stage this afternoon", said CMC Markets senior sales trader Toby Morris.

Still to come Tuesday, the US NFIB business optimism index at 12.30pm, the US Redbook index at 1.55pm  and a speech from Philadelphia Fed Chief Charles Plosser.

The clear focus, however, remains Janet Yellen's appearance in front of Congress at 3pm. The much anticipated testimony "could give investors valuable insight into how the Federal Reserve plans to approach tapering and interest rates over the next couple of years", said Spreadex.com financial sales trader Lee Mumford.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Barclays PLC232.90 GBX-1.25Rating

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