UK investors have the China blues

Data showing that the US job market is cooling boosted hopes that the Fed will opt for a pause in rate hikes. US jobless claims rose to a higher-than-expected 261,000 last week. However, concerns over the Chinese economy weighed on the FTSE 100, which gave up 0.3% at the close on Thursday.

And these concerns just grew bigger since overnight China issued another set of disappointing economic data. The producer price index fell 4.6% year-on-year in May, the largest drop since 2016. The headline inflation rate was smaller than at 0.2% annually.

As a result, oil stocks took a hit, impacting the FTSE 100 which was slightly down at 9am. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca was up 0.6% after it received the green light from the US regulator for an experimental antibody treatment that it is developing with Sanofi.

Network International climbed  5.6%, after it said that it had accepted a £2.2bn takeover offer from entities backed by Canada-based private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management.

The biggest loser today is Croda International, down 12.9% after the chemicals manufacturer issued a profit warning.

 

Things to read today:

Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak unveil ‘Atlantic declaration’ to strengthen economic ties (Financial Times)

Russian Billionaires Shut Out From World Spend Fortunes at Home (Bloomberg)