IG Weekly Market News Podcast

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The week just gone has seen markets continue their early July bounce, emboldened by a speech from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. With Chinese GDP looming on Monday, can they continue the rally?

The week saw markets continue their early July bounce, emboldened by a speech from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. With Chinese GDP looming on Monday, can they continue the rally?

Today's update from Standard Chartered is a good return to form for the bank, which has struggled under the weight of regulatory issues. With the British government looking to sell some of its Lloyds state, and Basel III regulation back on the agenda, the times ahead look more interesting for the banking sector.

The equity rally has come to a juddering halt, beset by worries over Fed tapering of QE and a weak Chinese manufacturing reading. In the week ahead we will have more news from the Bank of Japan plus unemployment data from the eurozone.

After a week of steady gains, the FTSE is looking a bit uncertain at present. Bid talk for Severn Trent and a Morrisons/Ocado tie-up were the major events. In the week ahead we will see central bank minutes plus earnings from Vodafone and Burberry.

Apple's earnings and UK GDP were the highlights of the week, but next week sees an ECB meeting at which a rate cut is on the cards, along with US non-farm payrolls and earnings from Imperial Tobacco.

Supermarket titan Tesco has endured a difficult year, and has finally taken the decision to withdraw from the US. Although it is also struggling with other overseas ventures, it is pressing ahead with new initiatives in the UK that may help boost sales.

Although ahead of expectations, Marks & Spencer's quarter was not entirely a bed of roses. Food sales were up but overall sales still dropped for yet another quarter.

From the fiscal cliff to the Cypriot bailout, alongside booming equity markets, we look at what has grabbed the attention of traders and market analysts.

Fund manager Aberdeen enjoyed additional inflows in the first part of the year, as investors were attracted by the steady rise in markets. We also take a look at the Cyprus bailout and what it means for the future.

ASOS, Next and Mulberry have all posted reports this week. It's more good news from the first two, but the latter continues to struggle, announcing yet another warning.

Can Sainsbury's continue to grow its online market and is their room for consolidation within the industry?

With its Arabic spring problems apparently receding, we assess whether it's time to look at the Egyptian gold mining company with a different mindset.

Latin American miners were in focus as copper miner Antofagasta and silver miner Fresnillo announced results. The former boosted its dividend while the latter was forced to cut its back.

An analysis of the contrasting profit and dividend results from Standard Life and Aviva, and a view on the UK's insurance sector.

Having reorganised British Airways into a profitable company, Willie Walsh turns his attention to the task of replicating that success with Spanish airline Iberia.

BHP Billiton had a mixed year, with a decline in both revenues and profits, although it did boost the dividend. Will new CEO Andrew MacKenzie lead the firm into a better year?

Engineer Amec has lost favour with investors today after its full-year results failed to live up to expectations. Higher revenues and an increased dividend payout were not enough to reignite enthusiasm for the shares.

Full-year results from Barclays showed that the bank is still a powerful financial institution, despite the impact of the Libor scandal. New CEO Antony Jenkins has set out a plan for the future that seems to offer renewed promise for the bank.

During 2012 the Chinese economy continued to grow, but at a slower pace. With China's needs creating the driving force behind the commodity demand, will Antofagasta be able to maintain its previous profits?

Apple's Q4 figures come out on Wednesday. Can they arrest the steep decline in the share price, or is it too late to win back disappointed investors?

The postponing of new liquidity requirements allows banks to increase lending, which has had a positive effect on the sector. Lloyds have already been upgraded; will we see more bank upgrades?

Once again Next has delivered a decent set of results, seeing growth in both online and high street sales. With a strong uptrend and a good dividend yield, will investors continue to be fans of the stock?

Morrisons was the first of the big four supermarkets to report on Monday, with Sainsbury's and Tesco following later this week. But which of them has enjoyed a successful Christmas trading period, and how will their relative market share be affected?

Power supply firm Aggreko was hit hard by a profit warning on Monday, as it set out a gloomier forecast for 2013. Will emerging markets help to offset lost contracts in developed countries, or has the current rally lost power?

Asian-focused bank HSBC has been hit with the largest fine in history to punish it for failures in compliance procedures. Will this make investors wary yet again about banking stocks?

TUI unveiled another set of good figures today, showing it continues to do well at the expense of its rival Thomas Cook. Although trading in its French division has been hampered by the uncertainty in North Africa, TUI expects continued growth in 2013.

Electronics retailer Dixons slipped into the red for its first half, as poor trading in southern Europe took its toll. We look at whether the company can sustain the massive rise in its share price this year.

With the disposal of the last of the Qatari warrants in the bank, Barclays continues its post-crisis recovery. We look at how the various scandals have affected the bank, and whether the worst is behind it.

Drinks giant SABMiller has served up an excellent set of results today, putting some new fizz into the share price as it beats expectations. With the post-2009 trend solidly intact, investors are looking to toast further trading updates.

Online supermarket Ocado is enjoying a surge after news about a cash raising. However, questions linger about the future of the company as it seeks to expand outside its Home Counties heartland.

Investors in Supergroup have enjoyed a rollercoaster ride, having seen the shares hit all-time lows this year before rallying strongly. Today's results show further progress, so perhaps it's time for a more sober look at the company now that the excitement has dissipated.

Today's results from M&S mark a mid-point in the CEO's three-year turnaround plan. It seems to be on track, with sales holding up in the UK. International expansion appears to be gaining priority, which should help M&S reduce its reliance on the UK market.

BP has spent the past two years in recovering from the 2010 Deepwater crisis. Its recent results show progress is being made, while changes in its Russian operations mean that the future looks brighter than it has for some time.

Better than expected jobs data has kept markets supported, but it does feel as if some of the momentum from recent months has started to flag. The focus has now switched to the US earnings season, and so far the results have been encouraging.

As widely expected, this week saw the US central bank do more to stimulate the economy — and it ended up being quite a lot more than markets were expecting. The net result is that US stock markets are back to pre-financial-crisis levels; the euro recovery continues and even gold has woken up in recent weeks - but will it last?

Disappointment at the ECB press conference brought volatility back with a bang this week – although a better-than-expected US unemployment report helped markets claw back the losses. With these major events out of the way the next week could be calmer, but thin trading during the summer months can always present its own problems.

It's a relatively calm period at the moment despite the LIBOR scandal occupying the headlines. It's starting to look like the usual summer slowdown, although of course last July ended up being the calm before the eurozone crisis storm. Is this year different?

The focus for markets this week should not come as a surprise to anyone – Europe once again. With the latest in a long line of EU summits set to start on Thursday 28 June, it could well be a cautious few days as investors wait to see if there are any fresh ideas on how to contain the crisis.

Last week saw some confidence return to markets on rumours of an imminent bailout for the beleaguered Spanish banking sector, and this weekend didn't disappoint. However, markets have started the week by rolling back on all their early large gains as bailout euphoria evaporated, leaving many waiting for the next stage of the European debt crisis – the Greek election due at the end of the week.

We've witnessed some calmer times for markets in recent days, but the euro still remains under pressure. It's been a quieter start to the week thanks to the US Memorial Day holiday but stock markets still seem to be making a tentative recovery, bolstered by polls showing that a pro-austerity result in the June Greek election is a possibility. Some cautious trading is likely in the days ahead of the week's main event, Friday's US non-farm payrolls.

Once again, Greece has been the focus of market attention during the past week after its election failed to deliver a government. Some are already speculating it is a case of when not if the country drops the euro – and this has meant weakness across many asset classes including the FTSE 100 and of course the euro itself. In addition a surprise $2 billion loss announcement from JP Morgan ensured that markets ended the week under pressure, making for another potentially nervous few days ahead.

Despite the backdrop of continued concern over the state of Spain's finances, stock markets have seen a steady, if modest, recovery this week. Closer to home, the high street has been in focus, with better-than-expected UK retail sales figures revealed - but some disappointment for Tesco and SuperGroup shareholders.

It's been another week of some pressure on stock markets, as the effects of US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's speech faded quickly. Although the FTSE dropped sharply, so far it has continued to hold above the earlier March lows. There is plenty of economic data due out in the week ahead, with Friday the big one as the US unveils its latest unemployment numbers.

Stock markets have spent most of the week under pressure as concerns about China's growth slowing have weighed on sentiment. The UK Budget was broadly well-received by markets, with gilts the biggest mover, pushing down government borrowing costs. Next week has GDP revisions for the UK and US, so that could spark some more volatility.

Volatility returned to stock markets this week, with all-too-familiar concerns over Greece having many people trying to head for the exit at the same time. However, this has proved to be short-lived and another strong US jobs report has left sentiment upbeat heading into next week.

Initial early euphoria over the Greece deal has faded as the week has gone on, but stock markets are still clinging onto their overall positive bias. There has been plenty of volatility in other markets, with the pound getting buffeted on the Bank of England minutes and crude oil soaring to a nine-month high.

It's been another week dominated by the progress - or lack of it - on the Greek debt bailout, but hopes have built up once again that a deal is finally imminent. There has been the odd wobble for stock markets but the end of the week sees the FTSE once again trying to make meaningful progress through the 5900 level, while the pound gets a lift by some surprisingly positive UK retail sales numbers.

A week of missed deadlines for Greece hasn't dented enthusiasm in stock markets too much as they continue to grind out further gains, although it definitely hasn't been the most volatile of weeks. Further QE announced by the Bank of England was met with a muted response by markets, as it was hardly a surprise. Barclays numbers on Friday were initially a disappointment to the market but this was soon shrugged off, leaving everyone eyeing the next Greek deadline over the weekend.

Although a little bit weaker on Friday, markets are ending the week overall on a bullish footing, after the US Federal Reserve's broad hint on Wednesday that interest rates will be remaining low for some time put a rocket under many asset classes. Even the euro managed to stage an impressive recovery, pushing out to fresh highs for 2012 against the US dollar. But will it last? This week's podcast looks at what got traders excited in recent days and what to look out for in the week ahead.