European Factors to Watch - Europe shares set for fresh losses

Thu Jun 6, 2013 6:26am BST

LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - European stocks are seen weakening further on
Thursday, tracking fresh losses on U.S. and Asian equity markets over mounting
concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon taper an economic stimulus
programme that has helped drive a stock market rally this year.

Financial spreadbetters expect Britain's FTSE 100 to open 11 to 12
points lower, or as much as 0.2 percent.

Germany's DAX is seen opening down by 6 to 12 points, or as much as
0.2 percent, and France's CAC 40 is also seen opening 4 to 6 points
lower, or as much as 0.2 percent.

"Weak closes in Europe yesterday are set to be exasperated today as the
bearishness persisted overnight with US markets closing on their lows and Asian
markets firmly in the red," London Capital dealer Jonathan Sudaria wrote in a
note.

Both the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England announce
interest rate decisions on Thursday. Both are expected to leave rates unchanged,
with the ECB holding off from fresh policy action to see whether an economic
recovery materialises in the second half of the year.

GBP Halifax HPI m/m 0.4% 0.2% 1.1%

CHF CPI m/m 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%

Anyone any thoughts as to why JPSS have halved in value over last week or so. I know there is turmoil in the Japanese market and the Nikkei has taken a bit of a pasting but i can't see anything more sinister than that (ie no RNS's). i am interested in a recovery play in these and wondering whether there is a better reason than market sentiment for their fall. Any thoughts?

Alex

You are not alone, I hold Invesco Perpetual Japan Accumulation Shares, which has suffered disproportionally compared to the Nikkei, having done exactly the same on the recent dramatic rise!

Morning All,

I know nothing about JPSS. RA, and I also used to like recovery plays, but don't forget we are now in the "go away" period so any recovery may take longer.

FTSE 100 little changed ahead of central bank decisions

Halifax reports strongest annual UK house price rise since 2010

LONDON | Thu Jun 6, 2013 8:17am BST
(Reuters) - British house prices grew by an annual 2.6 percent in the three months to May, the biggest rise since September 2010, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday.

House prices rose by 0.4 percent in May alone, faster than the 0.2 percent increase forecast by economists polled by Reuters, though down from the 1.1 percent rise recorded in April.

Halifax economist Martin Ellis said that property prices still faced significant headwinds.

"Despite these recent signs of improvement in the housing market, the subdued economic background and the accompanying weak income growth continue to be a significant constraint on housing demand and activity," he said.

Halifax is part of Lloyds Banking Group.

Non-Farm Payroll No's out tomorrow are they not?

Yes - 1:30pm.

Excellent, I always like to get that one out of the way.

Spanish 10-y Bond Auction 4.52|2.5 4.61|2.6

French 10-y Bond Auction 2.04|1.6 1.81|2.0

German Factory Orders m/m -2.3% -1.0% 2.3%

GBP Asset Purchase Facility 375B 375B 375B

GBP Official Bank Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

FTSE 100 little changed in midday trade

EUR Minimum Bid Rate 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

USD Unemployment Claims 346K 345K 354K

Hi all. JPSS are subscription shares, the ordinary shares for the investment trust are JPS. They have rights to be converted to ordinary shares up to 31 March 2014. You can read more here - http://am.jpmorgan.co.uk/investment-trusts/trusts/japanese-smaller-companies-jpm-it-subscription-shares.aspx

I'm not totally on top of why the subscription shares should fall so much quicker, but they are very illiquid (expect to pay a huge bid-offer spread) and I guess there's an element of the subs being worth less when the price of the ordinary shares dips under the exercise price (174p). The ordinary shares have gone to a significantly larger discount to NAV in the last couple of weeks because of the increase in volatility.



I've taken a bit of a hammering on BGFD recently :( But it's a highly speculative area and therefore I didn't put much in fortunately..

As posted earlier, my Japanese trust is taking a bashing.