Regency View:

Morning Report – Friday 26th March

FTSE to open at 6,725 (+51 pts)

Better than expected U.S GDP and Initial Jobless Claims data saw equities on both sides of the pond rally yesterday afternoon.

The U.S. economy grew by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, that was up from the original 4.1% GDP figure reported last month, but a sharp deceleration from the record 33.4% rate logged in the third quarter. While Initial Jobless Claims were 684,000 for the week ended March 20, down from 781,000 in the prior week, and better than expected.

The bullish sentiment has continued into Asian trading and European equities are set for a strong open.

?Risk Barometer Explained

After dropping down to touch the ascending trendline (gold dotted line) that we highlighted in yesterday’s Morning Report, the FTSE put in a V-shaped recovery – rallying throughout the afternoon and into the later half of U.S trading.

The intra-day recovery has formed a bullish ‘hammer candle’ and this type of pattern has a tendency to form inflection points – we’ll be watching closely to see if the hammer candle marks a new swing low for the FTSE.

FTSE 100 Daily Rolling Futures – Key Levels