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Trade war worries offset the gains seen in Wall Street with the Asian equity market struggling overnight. The trillion dollar valuation race between Apple and Amazon continues with Amazon tipping the $900bn valuation yesterday. GBP continues to take a beating against major world currencies as CPI data yesterday remained unchanged, reducing the likelihood of a rate hike in August. US banking shares continue to do good in earning season as Morgan Stanley profit jump. Oil prices remain volatile but fall amid record U.S. output and stockpiling continues to build. Have your say on which new cryptocurrency IG offer in our community poll. Asian overnight: Asian markets traded largely lower, as a breakdown in talks between the US and China highlighted the potential longevity of this recent trade war. However, despite the lack of any developments in trade negotiations, markets have largely taken the news in their stride, with losses proving relatively minimal. The Australian ASX 200 index was the one gainer overnight, despite a simultaneous rise in the AUD thanks to a batch of jobs data. A sharp rise in the employment change figure saw it rise to the highest level of 2018 thus far. UK, US and Europe: Global equity markets are trading mostly lower this morning although losses are marginal. While there appears to be no immediate and new economic catalysts to drive market movements this morning, US earnings remain a primary driver of equity markets right now. The dollar is slightly firmer and commodity prices modestly weaker this morning. Looking ahead, yet another important UK economic reading comes out in the form of the retail sales figure. With underwhelming jobs and inflation data, the expectations of an August rate rise are gradually easing, driving the pound lower. With the retail sales number expected to tumble from 1.3% to 0.1%, we could see yet another warning sign for the BoE today. In the US session, keep an eye out for the Philly Fed manufacturing survey, alongside the latest unemployment claims figure. South Africa: BHP Billiton is trading flat in Australia suggestive of a similar start for the South African listing of the company. Tencent Holdings is trading 0.6% lower in Asia, suggestive of a soft start for major holding company Naspers. A weak trading statement is expectant of a soft open for Woolworths, following on from a negative reaction yesterday to Shoprites trading update. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 9.30am – UK retail sales (June): forecast to rise 2.4% YoY from 3.9% and 0.4% from 1.3% MoM. Markets to watch: GBP crosses 1.30pm – US initial jobless claims (w/e 14 July), Philadelphia Fed mfg index (July): claims to rise to 217K from 214K, while the Philadelphia Fed index rises to 21.5 from 19.9. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades AO World said that Q1 revenue rose 8%, reflecting a strong start to the year in April and May, although demand was weaker in June. It remains on track to hit full-year expectations. Unilever sales rose 1.9% in Q2, below the forecast 2.2%. A Brazilian transport strike and weak performance hit pricing. Babcock expects low single digit underlying growth for the full year, versus a previous forecast of low mid-single digit growth. This was due to a slowdown in defence and marine work. Sports Direct said that full-year core earnings rose 12.2% to £306.1 million, ahead of forecasts of £296 million. Core earnings are expected to rise 5-15% in the next financial year. Buffet has won more power for share buy backs for Berkshire Hathaway if he feels the stock is undervalued. BRK gains 5.27% on the news. Lloyd’s loses market share in the uk mortgage space last year to RBS and HSBC. Although companies usually want to remain dominant in all forms of market share, reducing exposure, and therefore risk, to this particular market going into rising interest rates and Brexit may not be the worst thing. Adler Modemaerkte Upgraded to Buy at Oddo Salzgitter Upgraded to Buy at Goldman Ericsson Upgraded to Reduce at AlphaValue HelloFresh Upgraded to Buy at Bankhaus Lampe Alstria Office Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan BioMerieux Downgraded to Hold at HSBC Hypoport Downgraded to Hold at Berenberg Continental Downgraded to Hold at Bankhaus Lampe Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Oil prices dropped after an industry group reported that U.S. crude inventories rose last week, defying analyst expectations for a significant reduction. Wage growth in Britain is slowing according to new data out yesterday, casting a shadow on the likelihood of a BoE rate hike in August. All eyes should be on UK CPI data later today. Feds Powell said the “best way forward”, despite an impending trade war, was to continue to gradually increase rates. IBM have backed a ‘stable coin’ supposedly pegged to the USD and running on the Stellar blockchain network. You can have your say on which new cryptocurrency IG offer in our community poll. Asian overnight: A mixed bag for Asian markets has seen losses throughout Chinese and Hong Kong indices, while Japanese and Australian markets enjoyed a more positive session. Japanese stocks in particular enjoyed a boost from a weakening yen, with USDJPY reaching a five-month high. UK, US and Europe: Last nights positive speech on the US economy by Federal Chair Person Jerome Powell, combined with some better than expected results from the financial sector to help stage a rebound in US equity markets. European concerns turn to the UK once more, with the latest inflation data due out this morning. Coming off the back of a somewhat underwhelming UK jobs report yesterday, the market expectations for a strong rise in CPI could be a key determinant of BoE sentiment ahead of their August meeting. Also look out for the eurozone CPI reading, although this is a final revision. In the US, building permits and housing starts push the agenda onto the housing market, yet with Jerome Powell set to give his second monetary policy testimony in as many days, there is a chance he will grab the headlines. With crude price showing significant volatility over the past week, traders should watch for the US crude inventories figure, following the substantial drawdown in stocks announced last week. South Africa: The positive sentiment is echoing into US Futures this morning and expected to translate into our local Index on open as well. The dollar has strengthened to weigh on precious metal prices. The rand has also weakened against the greenback. BHP Billiton is trading 3.29% higher following an upbeat FY18 operational update this morning, with gains expected to be replicated on the company's JSE listing. Tencent Holdings is up 0.3% in Asia, suggestive of a marginally firmer start for major holding company Naspers. Miners of precious metals are expected to underperform our market today on account of the softer pricing of the underlying commodity. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 9.30am – UK CPI (June): YoY inflation to rise 2.5% YoY from 2.4%, and core CPI to be 2.3% from 2.1% YoY. MoM CPI to be 0.4%, in line with May. Markets to watch: GBP crosses 10am – eurozone CPI (June): final YoY figure to be 2% from 1.9%, and 0.1% MoM from 0.5%. Markets to watch: EUR crosses 1.30pm – US housing starts & building permits (June): starts to be down 4% MoM from a 5% rise, and permits to be up 0.7% MoM from a 4.6% fall. Markets to watch: USD crosses 3.30pm – US EIA inventories (w/e 13 July): stockpiles forecast to fall by 1.9 million barrels, from a 12.6 million decrease a week earlier. Markets to watch: Brent, WTI Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades GVC said that net gaming revenues had risen 8% on a constant currency basis, for the first half of the year. Online business grew 20% over the same period. The World Cup and warm weather boosted performance. Premier Foods said that sales rose 1.7% in the 13 weeks to 30 June, with good performances from the Mr Kipling and Batchelors brands. easyJet expects headline pre-tax profit to be £550-590 million for the year to the end of September, up from previous forecasts of £530-580 million. Revenue rose 14% to £1.6 billion for the third quarter. Full-year headline costs per seat, excluding fuel, are expected to be 3% higher, from a previous 2% forecast rise, due to higher levels of industrial action. Aker BP Upgraded to Buy at Norne Securities Ascential Upgraded to Buy at Goldman Brenntag Upgraded to Buy at Commerzbank Proximus Upgraded to Hold at Jefferies Bonava Downgraded to Reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux De’ Longhi Cut to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux Fresnillo Cut to Sector Perform at Scotiabank Schibsted Downgraded to Hold at SEB Equities Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

A sharp decline in oil prices has caused a lower Asian equity market session as energy sector is hit. Netflix share tumble 14% late last night in after hours trading on poor quarterly results, helping to pull down the S&P futures. The IMF has warned that tariffs imposed by the White House could initiate a $440bn knock to global growth and coined it the “greatest near term threat to global growth". Yesterday BoA beat earning expectations, Deutsche Bank share jumped in surprise profits forecast, and BlackRock profits up as well. Could this be a barometer for other banks earnings and a possible trade idea over earning season? Global regulators have started to lay the foundations to start monitoring crypto assets. BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world with $6.3 trillion in AUM, also announced a plan to build a crypto unit. Crypto markets rose sharply on the news. Asian overnight: Asian markets largely traded in the red in the wake of a sharp deterioration in energy prices, with Japanese indices the only positive movers as they play catch up in the wake of yesterday’s bank holiday. Data wise, we saw the release of a weaker than expected inflation print from New Zealand, falling to 0.4% from 0.5%. Meanwhile, RBA minutes pointed towards a continued expectation that the next move will be a rate rise, although this remains some way off yet. UK, US and Europe: US corporate earnings have taken the mantle in terms of being at the forefront of driving short term market sentiment. Yesterday a softer results release from Netflix saw the tech sector weaker and in turn the Nasdaq leading declines amongst the major US indices. Oil prices have come under enormous pressure overnight as suggestions that the US may waiver some sanctions on Iran oil. Looking ahead, a whole host of employment related data points from the UK brings the pound into focus. The dominant figure to look out of comes in the form of the average earnings number, with BoE’s Cunliffe specifically singling out the possible undershooting of wages as a reason to hold off on an August rate hike. Also keep an eye out for the US industrial production figure and an appearance from Fed governor Powell who is due to testify on monetary policy before the Senate Banking Committee. South Africa: The dollar has lost a bit of strength and in turn the rand has gained marginally this morning. BHP Billiton is down 1.69% in Australia suggestive of a softer start for diversified resources. Tencent Holdings is 1.3% lower in Asia suggestive of a similar start for major holding company Naspers. Earning season look ahead: Earning season continues with Royal Mail and TalkTalk putting out quarterlies today, along with Johnson and Johnson, Progressive, and Fidelity. Don't forget Morgan Stanley, American Express, Hochschild Mining, RPC Group and Severn Trent look to publish on Wednesday, and there may be some trade potential there give the results from banks yesterday. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 9.30am – UK employment data: May unemployment rate to rise to 4.3% from 4.2%, June claimant count to be 11K from -7.7K, and May average earnings to rise 2.7% from 2.5% (including bonus). Markets to watch: GBP crosses. Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Rio Tinto produced 88.5 million tonnes of iron ore in the second quarter, representing a 14% rise compared with the same quarter in 2017. Improved weather and productivity throughout its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia were most notable amongst reasons for this shift. 2018 shipments are expected to be towards to top end of its 330-340 million tonnes guidance. Royal Mail traded in line with expectations, with a decline in addressed letter business (down 7%) and marketing mail over the three months to June 24 vs the same time last year. CashBuild Revenue for the fourth quarter for the Cashbuild Group was up 4% on the fourth quarter of the prior financial year, with the 42 new stores opened or acquired since 1 July 2016 contributing 5% of the increase, whilst the 276 existing stores decreased by 1%. The growth for the fourth quarter together with the growth of the previous quarters, equates to an increase in revenue for the Cashbuild Group of 5% for the financial year, with new stores contributing 5% of the increase and existing stores remaining at similar levels. Asos Upgraded to Buy at Goldman Morgan Advanced Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan Deutsche Bank Upgraded to Hold at Commerzbank Michelin Upgraded to Buy at HSBC Investec maintain buy rating on Naspers (SA) with a target price of 440000c Investec maintain buy rating on Tencent with a target price of HK$530 Adidas Downgraded to Market Perform at Wells Fargo Brunello Cucinelli Downgraded to Neutral at Goldman Featured Video from IGTV Dick Bove, veteran banks analyst and chief strategist at Hilton Capital Management, tells IGTV that Citigroup is most at risk from the US-Sino trade tensions. Bank of America (BoA) is his top pick in the sector, praising CEO Bryan Moynihan as ‘an expert CEO’. Bove says he can see the stock rising to $60. Meanwhile, he says JPMorgan’s numbers were ‘superb’ while Wells Fargo was ‘very disappointing.’ However if we enter into a recession, he says ‘all bets are off’. Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Trade wars continue to be a key theme this week, and our very own IGTV have a video which you may be interested in, especially if you trade emerging markets. Check out the interview from Brock Silver, managing director at Kaiyuan Capital...

Asian shares down. China sees GDP growth data for Q2 soften which fuels fears as trade war row concerns build. Trump and Putin will sit down today for their first ever summit. Remarks from the pair could boost defence stocks. May's Brexit brings another MP resignation as the trade bill fight looms over the government. The UK's Rightmove house price index was published this morning and shows continued stalling and devaluation in London’s housing market. This could be seen as a barometer for wider inflation and brexit fears. Oil prices remain volatile with prices easing on supply hike fears. Dollar fails to gain momentum which supports gold prices. Earning season really kicking off with Royal Mail, Netflix, BoA, Unilever, Johnson and Johnson, and General Electric all amongst those publishing. Check out the ‘Earning Season weekly look ahead’ below for more info. Asian overnight: While Japan's Nikkei Index is closed on account of a banking holiday, most of the other Asian equity markets are trading lower this morning. A slow start to the week has seen losses across Chinese, Hong Kong and Australian markets. A weaker Chinese GDP reading saw the lowest level of growth since 2016 (6.7%), down on the previous 6.8%, however inline with expectations. We also saw a slowdown in fixed asset investment and industrial production, while retail sales provided the one positive reading. Trade war concerns are likely to continue into this new week, with Trump declaring that the EU, like China and Russia, is a foe of the US. Analysts from UBS speculate that a full blown trade war could knock off up to 20% from the S&P, 25% from European markets, and up to 24% off Asian equity markets. UK, US and Europe: Looking ahead, watch out for the eurozone trade balance data, while US retail sales, empire state manufacturing survey, and the business inventories figures provide the interest for the afternoon session. It's also worth noting that the UK's CPI figures released on Wednesday are expected to rise, backing up sentiment from some within the BoE’s MPC that interest rates should rise. Keep an eye out for GBP crosses and a bullish signal on any news which would support this claim. South Africa: While US Index Futures are modestly up, the Jse Top40 Index is expected to open modestly lower today following Asian markets. Precious metal prices trade slightly firmer this morning although still at depressed levels. Base metal prices are under pressure, as are oil prices today. The rand has managed to strengthen marginally against the majors over the weekend. BHP Billiton is down 0.75% in Australia, which along with softer base metal prices and a stronger ZAR is suggestive of a softer start for locally listed diversified resource counters. Tencent Holdings is up 0.15% on the Hang Seng. Earning Season weekly look ahead: Earning season will really kick off this week with Bank of America, the worlds largest asset manager Blackrock, and streaming giant Netflix reporting figures today, along with the UK’s WH Ireland. Royal Mail and TalkTalk put out quarterlies tomorrow, along with Johnson and Johnson, Progressive, and Fidelity. Morgan Stanley, America Express, Hochschild Mining, RPC Group and Severn Trent look to publish on Wednesday. The well knock consumer goods company Unilever are up on Thursday, along with Big Yellow Group, Bank of New York Mellon, and Philip Morris International. General Electric, Baker Hughes, and Schlumberg will end an exhausting week on Friday. Told you it was a big one... Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 1.30pm – US retail sales (June), Empire state mfg index (July): sales expected to rise 0.6% MoM from 0.8% and Empire state index to fall to 22.75 from 25. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Google could be hit by an $11bn fine tomorrow over allegations it’s forced it’s mobile Android users to illegally favour their own apps, for example the Chrome web browser, over others. This $11bn fine could be up to 10% of Alphabets global turnover. TP Group expects to deliver full-year results in line with expectations after making a good start to 2018. It has closed a number of contracts since January, including £12.5 million of UK contracts for submarine equipment. Indivior has won a temporary injunction on a generic opioid addiction treatment. Meggitt has won a $21 million five-year contract to supply equipment for US Black Hawk helicopters. ZTE stock surges as US supplier sees their ban lifted, however the outlook still looks uncertain. MTN Dubai Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN Group, has entered into an agreement in which it has sold 100% of MTN Cyprus to Monaco Telecom S.A. (“Monaco Telecom”) as part of an ongoing review of its portfolio. The net sale proceeds of €260 million (approximately R4,1 billion) will be paid upfront in cash. The transaction values MTN Cyprus at approximately 8x reported 2017 EBITDA. Anglo American Upgraded to Buy at Citi Asos Upgraded to Buy at Citi Lagardere Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley Ferrexpo Upgraded to Neutral at Citi AA PLC Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays NetEnt Downgraded to Hold at SEB Equities Adyen Downgraded to Hold at Berenberg DNA Downgraded to Hold at SEB Equities Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Expected index adjustments Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 16th July 2018. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video. NB: Special Divs are highlighted in orange Special Dividends No special divs this week. How do dividend adjustments work? As you know, constituent stocks of an index will periodically pay dividends to shareholders. When they do, the overall value of the index is effected, causing it to drop by a certain amount. Each week, we receive the forecast for the number of points any index is due to drop by, and we publish this for you. As dividends are scheduled, public events, it is important to remember that leveraged index traders can neither profit nor lose from such price movements. This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Asian session solid on reduced trade war fears. UK equity markets follow suit, along with a strong bidding war emerging for Sky, giving a green day for the FTSE yesterday and a positive start to the day today. However data from China today showing a record trade surplus risks further inflaming trade tensions. Trump is visiting the UK and has said that PM May is executing Brexit incorrectly. Trump's comments suggest May's Brexit plan is likely to kill hopes of a US trade deal. Brent crude sees it's biggest decline in 2 years, dropping as much as 6.9% yesterday. Earning season is kicking off in the US. Featured IGTV video below. Asian overnight: Trade fears continue to recede, as they have done ever since Tuesday night’s brief panic, with a solid session from Asian markets following on from a good day for US equities. A softer tone from China and their willingness to resume trade talks with the US is helping a risk on environment as most markets extend near term gains at present. While global equity markets are trading mostly firmer overnight, China's Shanghai Composite has given up 0.4% in early trade. Trade balance data from the region saw a larger than expected surplus realised as exports grew while imports slowed. A new record high for the Nasdaq confirmed the strength of this market, representing an interesting ‘safe haven’ from trade concerns. Australian stocks bucked the trend however, as financials dropped 0.7% to see the index drop 0.3% overall. Brent crude has seen it's biggest decline in 2 years dropping as much as 6.9% yesterday, a huge move for the black gold, on the back of Libya's state owned oil company saying that it is planning on increasing supply to match the current demand increase. They have also said they are looking at opening all four export channels that have been closed for the last month. This comes on the back of significant worries for energy traders with the Trump tariffs constantly knocking on the door, increasing fears that a knock on to global growth is just around the corner. Today sees the weekly Baker Hughes rig count from the US which is worth keeping an eye on. UK, US and Europe: President Trump has been causing mayhem in Europe already this week, and now he brings his special brand of magic to the UK. Having dined with the PM last night, today he is in the papers decrying her Brexit deal, setting us up for a fascinating press conference. The economic calendar is sparse today, but US earnings season gets underway in earnest with the release of bank earnings from Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. South Africa: The Jse AllShare index is expected to open up modestly firmer this morning in line with the mostly positive short term global market sentiment. The rand has clawed back further strength against the majors, which should aid initial gains on local banking and retail counters. BHP Billiton is down 0,7% in Australia suggestive of a softer start for local diversified resource counters. Tencent Holdings is trading more or less flat in Asia, suggestive of a flat start for major holding company Naspers. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 3pm – US Michigan consumer confidence index (July, preliminary): forecast to fall to 98.1 from 98.2. Market to watch: USD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Workspace Group has seen lettings fall 5% in Q1, though enquiries have risen. Three refurbishment projects completed in June, and six more are expected in this financial year. DCC said that Q1 profits were in line with expectations, and that it continues to expect profit o be weighted towards the second half of the year. It has also acquired two firms, Stampede and Kondor, with a combined enterprise value of £110 million. Experian has started the year well, in line with forecasts, with overall revenue growth of 10% in Q1 (at constant exchange rates). Ashmore saw assets fall $2.6 billion to $73.9 billion for the quarter to 30 June. Despite net inflows, a seasonal slowdown and a stronger US dollar had hit emerging markets hard. Dawn (SA) Revenue for FY18 declined by 19/1% to R3.5bn. In H1 F2018 revenue declined by 19,8% and in H2 F2018 revenue declined by 18,3%. Volumes in F2018 declined by 19,1% and price inflation remained flat. Diageo upgraded to buy at Goldman Evraz upgraded to buy at Renaissance Capital IMI upgraded to buy at HSBC Norwegian Air upgraded to buy at SEB Equities Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

A look at our in-person seminars Earlier this summer we arranged our largest ever event in Scandinavia, with John Bollinger the creator of the technical Bollinger Bands indicator as a keynote speaker. Other speakers included Lee Sandford, an IG client and the founder of Trading College, and our local market analyst, Erik Hansén. The events, attended by about 450 prospective and live IG clients, were held in Oslo and Stockholm and followed a very similar ‘roadshow’ pattern which some of our other offices in Europe have put on for our client base. It’s always great to meet clients face to face and discuss trade ideas and market opportunity, as well as receive feedback and suggestions about our products. Have a look at a couple of the links posted at the end of this article to see if there are any live events, seminars, or webinars you can sign up to. Also make sure you’ve opted in to our emails so you can stay up to date and informed on any one off events we want to let you know about! You can find this in My IG Dashboard > Settings > Communication Preferences. When preparing for this event we listened to feedback from our client base who were keen on us bringing in successful traders and prominent people within the industry to talk about their experiences and share their trading insights. Trading strategies The evening started with IG’s own Erik Hansen welcoming everyone and introducing the presenters, as well as giving a quick overview of IG and our trading platform for those who hadn’t used it before. Erik also spoke about a few trading strategies and tools that help clients find interesting buy/sell opportunities, such as our market insights news and analysis, trading signals, and IG’s charting packages. We have a few strategy articles on IG.com which may be worth checking out to get a feel of the things discussed. Charting the value of technical analysis 16 candlestick patterns every trader should know How to trade a head and shoulders pattern Pivot point trading strategies Ichimoku Cloud trading strategies explained Next up was Lee Sandford who told us how he uses Fibonacci in his trading and how he combines it with MACD and stochastics. Lee also showed how he finds business opportunities with good risk reward by identifying interesting turning points in the market. There are a couple of videos posted below which may be interesting for some when we had Lee in the London office with IGTV, and an article on using the Fibonacci tool to trade. Last up was John Bollinger himself, who gave us a practical view on Bollinger Bands and trading techniques like "Pattern recognition", as well as setups like "W bottoms" and "squeeze". Bollinger Bands can be a great trading tool for the technical analysts amongst you and there are countless strategies and videos online which are worth having a look over. We have a special Bolling Bands article written by IG's own Joshua Mahony on the IG.com website to get you started. Something of interest Each speaker was strong in their own right, but what really made the event a success was the breadth of the spectrum we were able to cover – ensuring there was something of interest to both beginners and advanced traders. We saw a good amount of 'chatter' across social media, both beforehand and during the event itself, and we received some great feedback from those who came and chatted afterwards. We really want to hear from people if they would like a similar event in their city. We are constantly working with our clients and listening to feedback to improve our offering, and seminars and events like this are no different. Drop us a message below if this is something you’d be interested in, and let us know the sort of event, or guest speakers, you would be keen on hearing from. Live events, seminars and online webinars near you Online webinars and courses can be found on IG Academy with live trading sessions available too. Make sure your email notifications are on if you want to keep up to date with one off events. Our South African offices have weekly in-person seminars in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Singaporean clients can check out in-person trading seminars (scroll down the page). Lee Sandford IGTV videos Hope you enjoyed this insight Happy trading James

Asian overnight: Market volatility remains evident throughout Asia, with yesterday’s sharp tumble being followed up by a strong rebound overnight. Chief amongst those gainers were the Chinese markets, which gained ground despite the ongoing trade war with the US. Suggestions that China and the US could resume trade talks has helped boost short term market sentiment. Crude prices were also fighting back in the wake of the biggest one-day decline in more than two years yesterday. UK, US and Europe: Looking ahead, a relatively quiet European session sees industrial production data from the eurozone take precedence in the lead up to the latest ECB monetary policy minutes. Meanwhile, the US will be keeping a close eye out for the CPI inflation data and unemployment claims number. South Africa: We are expecting a higher open on the local SA bourse today as US Futures and Asian markets rebound this morning. Emerging market currencies and metal prices are in turn finding some reprieve today. Tencent Holdings is up 0.5% in Asia suggestive of a positive start for major holding company Naspers. BHP Billiton is trading 0.6% lower in Australia suggestive of a slightly softer start for locally listed diversified miners. Mining production and sales data is scheduled for release at 11:30am and Manufacturing production and sales data is scheduled for release at 1pm today. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 10am – eurozone industrial production (May): expected to be 2.8% YoY and 0.8% MoM, from 1.7% and -0.9% respectively. Market to watch: EUR crosses 1.30pm – US CPI (June), initial jobless claims (w/e 7 July) headline CPI to be 2.9% YoY and 0.2% MoM, from 2.8% and 0.2% respectively. Core CPI to be 0.2% MoM and 2.3% YoY, from 0.2% and 2.2% respectively. Initial jobless claims to fall to 227,000 for the week, from 231,000 a week earlier. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Dunelm said that store like-for-like sales were up 1% to £805 million for the year to 30 July, while online sales rose 37.9% like-for-like to £105.4 million. Pre-tax profit is expected to be £102 million for the full year. ASOS expects full-year profit to be in line with forecasts, as total sales rose 22% to £802.7 million for the four months to 30 June. Full-year pre-tax profit is expected to be around £101 million. B&M European Value Retail said that it enjoyed a strong start to the year, with revenue growth of 21.3% overall in the quarter, up 1.6% on a like-for-like basis. Aker BP upgraded to overweight at JPMorgan Hapag-Lloyd raised to neutral at Goldman Maersk upgraded to buy at Goldman Roche upgraded to buy at Berenberg ITV downgraded to neutral at Goldman Pagegroup downgraded to hold at Kepler Cheuvreux Sky cut to neutral at Macquarie Veidekke downgraded to hold at SEB Equities Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

I've just spoken to our TV team and we are scheduling in a flow piece with Blackrock for Monday (we'll call today to confirm). Keep an eye out and I'll try and remember to post to Community.

The Trump house looks to impose 10% tariffs on $200 bln of Chinese goods. Shanghai and Hong Kong equity markets drag down the wider overnight Asian session. The bidding war on Sky continues with Murdoch's Fox offering £14/share beating Comcasts previous £12.50. Copper and zinc slide to 1-year low, oil also sharply lower on trade war fears. Asian overnight: Asian markets were back in the red overnight, as Donald Trump has once again ramped up trade war fears, driving away any optimism built in recent days. With Trump starting the process that will ultimately lead to the imposition of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, there is reason to believe we are entering the next stage of the trade war between the two countries. Unsurprisingly we have seen losses across the board overnight, with the heaviest falls centred upon the Chinese and Hong Kong markets. US and European futures are trading lower this morning as well. UK, US and Europe: Looking ahead, central banks are in focus, with appearances from ECB and BoE governors Mario Draghi and Mark Carney. The big event of the day comes in the form of the Bank of Canada rate decision, where the committee is expected to push interest rates higher for the first time in 2018. Also keep an eye out for US PPI, and crude oil inventories data. South Africa: We are expecting a softer open on the local SA index as the trade war narrative see's escalation once again. We have seen some strength returning to the dollar and in turn mostly weaker commodity prices and a softer rand. Tencent is trading 2.3% lower in Asia this morning, suggestive of a similar start for major holding company Naspers. BHP Billiton is trading 1.3% lower in Australia, suggestive of an initial decline for local resource counters. A softer rand is expected to continue to weigh on financial counters as well as local retail counters. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 1.30pm – US PPI (June): forecast to be 0.1% from 0.5% MoM, while core PPI falls to 0.2% from 0.3%. Market to watch: USD crosses 3pm – Bank of Canada rate decision: rates expected to remain at 1.25%. Market to watch: CAD crosses 3.30pm – US EIA crude inventories (w/e 6 July): stockpiles expected to fall by 230,000 barrels from a 1.5 million barrel drop a week earlier. Markets to watch: Brent, WTI Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Sky has agreed new terms for its takeover by 21st Century Fox, with the US firm offering £14 per share, up from the previous £10.75 per share. Burberry reported a 3% rise in like-for-like sales for Q1, and there was no change to full year guidance. Indivior said that guidance for its financial year was ‘no longer valid’, as a rival generic product in the US has a major impact on operations. The revenue impact could be $25 million for 2018. Barratt Developments expects record profit for the year, bolstered by Help to Buy. Pre-tax profits are expected to be £835 million, from £765.1 million a year ago. The firm completed 17,579 homes, compared to 17,395 last year, while the number of plots sold was up 4%. Coca-Cola HBC upgraded to buy at Jefferies Drax upgraded to outperform at Macquarie LPKF upgraded to buy at HSBC HSBC upgraded to overweight at JPMorgan UBS upgrade Barclays Africa from sell to neutral with a target price of 19700c BHP downgraded to hold at Renaissance Capital CYBG downgraded to underperform at KBW Trelleborg downgraded to hold at SEB Equities Virgin Money downgraded to market perform at KBW Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Regulations laid out by the FCA require us to send cash back to the same source in which we receive them from. This means we can send funds back to the card used to deposit, however, if you wish for funds to be returned to a different source i.e. directly to your bank account, we would first need to verify the original payment source. Although from your perspective your card and bank account are linked, they are actually separate things and there is nothing which we can see which link the two. For example if you have a bank account with Barclays and make a deposit into your IG account with your debit card, there is no way that we can link these two without validation. I appreciate that this additional step for a withdrawal is frustrating, but it is required to comply with the FCA’s Anti Money Laundering Policy. Unfortunately to reduce this risk requires regulated companies such as ourselves to make these verification checks for all clients. I also appreciate the frustration in not being able to verify exactly how long you need to be a client before we can accept these verification methods, however once again this is a requirement by the external regulators. You should still be able to withdraw funds to the same source you deposited from (for example if you deposit with a card you can withdraw to that same card. If you make a bank transfer in you can make a bank transfer out).

Thanks all - for clarity, as a one off (whilst I sorted out permissions and 'blog write' access) John permitted me to post this on his behalf. Also it's worth noting that moderator access allows you to schedule posts. Going forwards this content will be posted by @JohnDFX and is likely to be posted over the weekend

A lack of trade war news is jumped on by Asian equity markets which rally for a third consecutive session. Boris Johnson follows David Davis and resigns from his position of Foreign Secretary sparking speculation of a rebellion. Oil dropped yesterday after Merkel and Li commit to Iran nuclear deal, before supply shortages and strikes in of oil workers in Norway aided the reversal for brent and WTI to finish up. Gold prices inch up amid the continued Brexit uncertainty, whilst subdued dollar assists commodities. Asian overnight: Asian markets failed to sustain their overwhelmingly positive start to the week, with the overnight session seeing gains in Japanese and Hong Kong markets counteracted by weakness in China and Australia. Energy stocks were in focus amid a rise in crude prices, while the pound recovered much of the losses seen in the wake of yesterday’s political rollercoaster ride. On the data front, Chinese inflation data moved higher as expected, with CPI rising from 1.8% to 1.9%, while PPI jumped from 4.1% to 4.7%. UK, US and Europe: Despite two years of hashing out a brexit plan and continued discussions with the EU, and a confirmation by May that she had secured an agreement on Britains biggest foreign and trading policy in nearly 50 years, two UK MP's quit citing a change of heart in something the cabinet had agreed on last week. Looking ahead, the UK remains in focus, with the first monthly GDP reading from the ONS set to be released. This comes amid the release of goods trade balance data, industrial, and manufacturing production figures, ensuring the pound remains in focus. Finally, watch out for the ZEW economic survey from Germany, with eurozone sentiment in the spotlight. South Africa: Global markets are trading mixed this morning as US Futures continue overnight gains in US equity markets, while the Shanghai Composite and Australia All Ordinaries Indices trade lower today. While the trade war narrative remains in markets investor focus will now find a further catalyst in the US earnings season which commences this week. Precious metal prices are trading relatively unchanged this morning, although base metal prices looked to have commenced with a rebound. The rand has firmed, particularly against a weakening pound following yesterday's resignation of UK ministers. Tencent Holdings is trading 2.3% lower in Asia, suggestive of a similar start today for major holding company Naspers. BHP Billiton is trading 1.09% higher this morning in Australia, suggestive of a positive start for local diversified miners. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 9.30am – UK trade balance (May): deficit forecast to narrow to £1.2 billion from £5.3 billion. Market to watch: GBP crosses 10am – German ZEW economic sentiment (July): forecast to rise to -14 from -16.1. Market to watch: EUR crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Ocado has seen a first half loss of £9 million, compared to a £7.7 million profit a year ago. Revenue was up 12.1% to £800 million. Kier said that it expected underlying profit to be in line with forecasts, and while poor weather has hit activity, volumes have returned to levels in line with expectations. TP ICAP has downgraded earnings forecasts for the year, due to rising costs and lower-than-forecast benefits from the recent merger. Finance costs will rise, as will staff compensation. Tsogo Sun Holdings - Further to the cautionary announcements issued by Tsogo, the last of which was issued on SENS on 31 May 2018, the board of directors of Tsogo is pleased to announce that Akani Egoli Proprietary Limited, Silverstar Casino Proprietary Limited, Tsogo Sun Casinos Proprietary Limited, Tsogo Sun KwaZulu Natal Proprietary Limited and Tsogo Sun Newcastle Proprietary Limited, all of which are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tsogo and Tsogo, Listed Investments Proprietary Limited and Cassava Investments Proprietary Limited, have entered into a sale of shares and subscription agreement with Hospitality Property Fund Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary Merway Fifth Investments Proprietary Limited for the disposal by the sellers to Hospitality of a portfolio of seven mixed-use casino precinct properties for an aggregate purchase consideration of R23 billion. Acacia Mining upgraded to overweight at Barclays Ascential upgraded to add at Peel Hunt Chemring Group raised to overweight at Barclays UBS upgrade Barclays Africa from sell to neutral with a target price of 19700c Computacenter cut to underweight at Barclays Straumann cut to market perform at Bernstein Temenos cut to underweight at Barclays Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

David Davis resigns from his poll position as Brexit secretary. Sterling feels the pinch. Global equity markets rally on US jobs relief, whilst dollar falters. Balanced U.S. jobs data suggest Fed can stay gradual on hikes Oil inches up whilst gold gains on the weaker dollar. NYSE technology chief has jumped ship to join the Winklevoss ‘bitcoin billionaires’ cryptocurrency venture as their first CTO for Gemini. Asian overnight: Asian markets have seen substantial gains overnight, as we see a continued feedback from Friday’s strong US jobs data and easing fears over the US - China trade war. The US non-farm jobs report alluded to an improving labour market with 213 000 people being added t the payroll last month, where expectation was for 195000 people to have been added. The dollar has softened somewhat lifting commodity prices, in particular that of precious metals. UK, US and Europe: The overnight resignation of UK Brexit Secretary David Davis had added a focus onto the pound, with the weekend gap higher erased as markets seek to find answers of what this means for negotiations with the EU. British Chambers of Commerce believe forward looking indicators predicting the growth of the economy are not strong enough to warrant a rate rise at the next MPC meeting on August 2nd. A poll conducted by the group reviewed more than 6000 firms from the UK. The economic calendar looks relatively quiet for the day ahead, and that bullish theme overnight seems likely to carry through into European trade. Look out for appearances from ECB governor Mario Draghi, alongside BoE member Broadbent. South Africa: The rand has managed to claw back some of its recent losses, as outflows from emerging markets halt for the time being. We are expecting broad-based gains on the JSe initially, with a stronger rand aiding a rebound in local banking and retail counters. BHP Billiton is up 2% in Australia suggestive of a positive start for resource counters. Tencent Holdings is up 2.53% suggestive of a positive start for local holding company Naspers. Company earnings: Pepsi will report second quarter results tomorrow, whilst fashion house Burberry and America's Delta Airlines will follow on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. We also see big banknames Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup finish the week on Friday. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Centamin said that gold production fell 25% in Q2, due to low metal grades at its Egypt mine. Production was expected to be 505,000 to 515,000 ounces for the full year. Purplebricks has completed the acquisition of Canadian estate agency Duproprio/Comfree, for £29.3 million. Murray & Roberts Holdings (SA) - Shareholders are referred to the announcement released on SENS today by Aveng regarding a notification received from ATON on Thursday, 5 July 2018, indicating that ATON and its wholly owned subsidiary ATON Austria Holdings GmbH, have in aggregate, acquired an interest in the ordinary shares of Aveng, such that the total interest in the ordinary shares of Aveng now amounts to 25.42% of the total issued ordinary shares of Aveng. Beazley upgraded to top pick at RBC G4S upgraded to top pick at RBC Meggitt upgraded to buy at Berenberg TalkTalk upgraded to neutral at JPMorgan UBS upgrade Barclays Africa from sell to neutral with a target price of 19700c Nedbank Limited’s (SA) national scale rating was upgraded to ‘zaAA+’ from ‘zaAA’ by S&P Hargreaves Lansdown cut to underweight at JPMorgan Virgin Money cut to equal-weight at Barclays Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Expected index adjustments Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 9th July 2018. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video. NB: Special Divs are highlighted in orange Special Dividends No special dividends this week. How do dividend adjustments work? As you know, constituent stocks of an index will periodically pay dividends to shareholders. When they do, the overall value of the index is effected, causing it to drop by a certain amount. Each week, we receive the forecast for the number of points any index is due to drop by, and we publish this for you. As dividends are scheduled, public events, it is important to remember that leveraged index traders can neither profit nor lose from such price movements. This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Trump tariffs now in effect, however markets have generally priced this in. Fed hints at last nights FOMC that it could raise rates twice more this year. Greenback gains removing some of the earlier gains from GBPUSD. Carney warns that Trumps trade tariffs could damage the global economy knocking up to 2.5 percentage points of global growth over three years, but has warned Trump that these tariffs will hurt the US the most. Carney still upbeat about UK growth. New figures show that UK high street retailers could suffer the ‘worst year on record’. Copper extends losses on worries about global growth. The metal, seen as a bellwether of economic health, has hit a fresh 11 month low in London's LME. This week alone the metal has shed nearly 5% which has put it on it's steepest weekly drop since mid November 2017. Asian overnight: Asian markets were in surprisingly positive mood overnight, as a dovish Fed meeting helped ease any fears over the ramp up in tariffs between the US and China today. The imposition of tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods in either direction have done little to market sentiment, with much of the implications seemingly priced in. However, we have since seen Donald Trump mention the possibility of adding another $300 billion on top of the $200 billion in goods already mentioned in the past. Markets are however gaining despite this trade war result, suggesting that perhaps the news has already been priced in. The rebound in global markets should be treated with caution as we await further retaliation from China and the suggested escalation from the US regarding this matter. Overnight data saw Japanese household spending fall, while average cash holding improved significantly. UK, US and Europe: A busy day for the US follows a relatively quiet economic calendar in Europe, with one of the main figures already released in the form of the German industrial production number (2.6% from -1.3%). The focus for most will be the US and Canadian jobs report, with markets set to see whether the headline NFP number will follow the ADP figure lower. With market expectations of a September already elevated, todays jobs figures will add another important piece of that puzzle for traders. South Africa: South Africa's local equity market is expected to initially follow gains in the US and Asia, although could trade tentatively into the US employment data releases this afternoon. South Africa's gold and foreign exchange reserves for June 2018 were reported to have been recorded at slightly lower levels than in the previous month. The rand has managed to claw back some strength today which is expected to aid gains in local banking and retail counters. BHP Billiton is trading 0.85% higher in Australia this morning suggestive of a positive start for local resource counters. Tencent Holdings is up 0.26% in Asia, suggestive of a marginally positive start for major holding company Naspers, although the stronger rand may temper some of these gains. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 1.30pm – US non-farm payrolls (June): payrolls expected to fall to 190K from 223K, while the unemployment rate holds at 3.8%. Average hourly earnings forecast to be 0.2% higher MoM, from 0.3%. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses 1.30pm – Canada employment data (June): 17,500 jobs expected to have been created, from a 7500 fall in May. Unemployment rate to hold at 5.8%. Market to watch: CAD crosses 3pm – Canada Ivey PMI (June, seasonally-adjusted): forecast to fall to 60.7 from 62.5. Market to watch: CAD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Glencore, the copper, nickel and iron ore mining specialist, announced it will initiate a $1bn share buy back scheme. Stobart said that it had started the year ‘satisfactorily’, and has also announced a new five-year lease partnership with Ryanair. Rolls-Royce has sold its commercial marine business to Norwegian firm Kongsberg for £500 million. Eurazeo upgraded to buy at HSBC ITV upgraded to buy at SocGen Petra Diamonds raised to buy at Panmure Gordon & Co Shell upgraded to buy at DZ Bank Daily Mail downgraded to sell at SocGen Direct Line cut to equal-weight at Barclays Esure downgraded to underweight at Barclays Pearson downgraded to hold at SocGen Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

IG Product Update July 2018 We recently made a post on Community showcasing a number of ways you can leave feedback and suggest improvements regarding our products and services. I wanted to follow up with our first ever ‘Product Update’ post so you can see some of the recent improvements we have made on the back of our continued two way communication which has helped IG become the global leader. The recent updates include, Partially close positions via charts Market name watermarks for all charts New ether/bitcoin (ETH/BTC) crypto pair (and vote on which NEW crypto asset you are most interested in) Changes to weekend overnight funding An improved way to get in contact with Trading Services Partially close positions via charts This brand new feature is now available on charts for both the web trading platform and on mobile. When ‘1-click dealing’ is not enabled you will be able to confirm whether or not you want to close the whole position, or to partially close via a pop up dialogue box. To use this functionality click 'close' (1) on the chart, change the 'Sell' value (for example in this screenshot you can change 4 to 2 to only close half the position), followed by 'Submit'. The window will show the ‘Closing P&L’ as well as the ‘Margin Returned’. Market name watermarks for all charts To add clarity and ease of use it is now possible to display the name of the market in the background of the charts. This feature is disabled by default but can be activated from the “customise appearance” menu which is brought up by right clicking on the chart, ticking the “show watermark” checkbox, and clicking 'Apply'. Once activated every charts will start showing the market name. The watermark will also be displayed on the image produced using the “export chart” option. This should be an incredibly useful feature for those who have a number of charts open at the same time, as well as those who share their chart set ups online, with friends, and on IG Community. New ether/bitcoin cryptocurrency pair The ETH/BTC pair has been a tradable cryptocurrency asset on the IG platform for a couple of months and is calculated by taking the mid-price of ether and dividing it by the mid-price of bitcoin. We then adjust the decimal (in much the same way as we do for our FX pairs) to make the number easier to trade on the IG platform. A single point is anything to the left of the decimal. For example; Ether price: 440 USD Bitcoin price: 6150 USD ETH/BTC: 440 / 6150 = 0.07154 IG platform price: 715.4 One point means: A price move from 715.4 up to 716.4 (or down to 714.4) would be one point. This is a great addition to our cryptocurrency offering as it gives a new way to gain exposure to the sometimes volatile market conditions of virtual currencies. Unlike trading other highly correlated cryptos, the ETHBTC pair gives a different trading opportunity which trend followers, technical analyst, and fundamental traders alike may enjoy. We are also looking to our IG Community members and other IG clients to see which new crypto asset they are interested in (which IG doesn't currently offer). You can check out this poll to vote on which new crypto asset you are most interested in. Feel free to add comments and questions to the post if you would like to chat further. Changes to weekend overnight funding We have also changed overnight funding on cryptocurrency positions held over the weekend. Previously, we were charging three nights funding on Wednesday to account for the weekend (in the same way as the majority of conventional FX pairs are calculated on a T+2 basis), but seeing as we offer these markets on Saturday and Sunday it is more appropriate to charge on a daily basis. We will also begin charging overnight funding for weekend index positions held through 10pm (UK time) Saturday and Sunday. The charges will be calculated in exactly the same way as our weekday indices. It’s also worth noting that anyone with AUD denominated contracts will be charged based on their positions at 10pm (UK time). An improved way to get in contact with Trading Services If you have ever had a query relating to your IG account, your trade activity, or the financial markets then it’s likely you’ve spoken to one of our Trading Services representatives. Over the last couple of years we have also rolled out IG Academy, a Help and Support Centre, and a new IG Community to better answer your questions. Recently we have rolled out a brand new ‘Contact Us’ page on IG.com. This page contains a web browser contact form which will automatically allocated your contact query to the correct department, increasing the speed of a resolution and reply. I hope you find the above updates useful. You can find out how to submit feedback to IG here if you want to continue to help shape the future of IG. Any questions, just ask.

Will up a tad Thanks

Asian markets fall for the fourth day and major currencies are generally trading in a tight range. MSCI Asia-Pacific index down 0.5% whilst Japan's Nikkei (the Japan 225) loses 1%. USD slightly softer going into US Initial Jobless Claims and FOMC minutes later today. Gold is holding steady before Fed minutes, whilst copper and zine are stuck near their one year lows on trade woes. Oil prices fall as Trump slams OPEC on twitter and blames the cartel for rising gas prices. This issue has been raised a number of times over the last few weeks as it could cause a major issue for the 'Trumphouse' going into the November midterms. Meanwhile China's duty on U.S. crude looms. Goldman Sachs are still bullish on Commodities as a whole and believe trade war fears have been overdone. "All of these concerns have been oversold. Even soybeans, the most exposed of all assets to trade wars, is now a buy." Clarification by the FCA on PPI compensation could means UK banks may have to add to the £45bn they’ve already set aside for claims. FMOC later today. Asian overnight: Asian markets traded lower once more, as market sentiment continues to suffer in anticipation of the impending Sino-US tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods. Yesterday’s tweet from Donald Trump calling for lower oil prices has had a knock on effect to the equity markets and tempered some of the gains seen through the week thus far. UK, US and Europe: Looking ahead, the focus shifts from the UK to the US, with yesterday’s Independence Day meaning we will see markets on the other side of the Atlantic play catch up with Europe. Appearances from BoE governor Carney and ECB member Mersch will be the highlights for Europe, with markets more focused on the plethora of data points out of the US. ADP payrolls data, composite, manufacturing and services PMI figures in the afternoon pave the way for the latest FOMC minutes. Keep an eye out for the dollar for the impact of the days economic releases, while stock markets will be closely followed for how much they will follow yesterday’s lead in Europe. South Africa: After yesterdays public holiday, US futures are trading flat this morning while Asian markets continue to find short term pressure lending itself to a flat to lower start on our local bourse this morning. The dollar is trading relatively flat while commodity prices, which have a relatively large impact on the local SA index, trade mostly lower ahead of the US implementation of trade tariffs on China. BHP Billiton is trading 0.54% lower in Australia furthering the notion that we will see a softer start on locally listed resource counters today. Tencent Holdings is trading 0.5% lower on the Hang Seng, suggestive of a similar start for major holding company Naspers this morning. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 1.15pm – US ADP employment report (June): expected to rise to 180K from 175K. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses 1.30pm – US initial jobless claims (w/e 30 June): forecast to be 221K from 227K. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses 3pm – US ISM non-manufacturing PMI (June): forecast to fall to 58.2 from 58.6. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses 4pm – US EIA crude inventories (w/e 29 June): expected to see stockpiles fall by 1.6 million barrels. Markets to watch: Brent, WTI 7pm – FOMC minutes: these will provide further insight into the Fed’s decision to raise rates, as well as the shift on the committee that resulted in the dot-plot suggesting four rate hikes in 2018, from the previous three. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades China’s ZTE has received a 30 day trade ban relief from Trump. The US provide a third of the components needed by the smartphone manufacturer who have seen a 60% decline in share price wiping off $11bn from the company valuation since the trade war talks. Anglo American sees volatility spikes on take over rumours. Anglo American Platinum Limited (SA) has accepted an offer from Royal Bafokeng Platinum Limited ("RBPlat") to purchase its 33% interest in the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine joint venture (“BRPM JV") for a total purchase consideration of R1.863 billion. Associated British Foods said its full-year outlook was unchanged, as improvement at Primark is cancelled out by weakness in its sugar division. Group revenue for the 40 weeks to 23 June was up 3% overall, and 2% at actual exchange rates. Primark sales were up 6% on last year, but AB Sugar revenue was 17% lower. Purplebricks suffered an adjusted operating loss of £21.3 million, despite strong growth in the UK and Australia. This compares to a £5.1 million loss in 2017. Glencore has announced a $1 billion share buyback, which will run from today until the end of the year. EasyJet carried 7.9 million passengers in June, up 2.3% from a year ago, while the load factor rose to 95.4% from 94.8%. Aegon upgraded to buy at HSBC Bauer upgraded to buy at Kepler Cheuvreux Tullow upgraded to overweight at Barclays Daimler upgraded to buy at Bankhaus Lampe Hapag-Lloyd downgraded to neutral at Citi Kappahl downgraded to reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux Munich Re downgraded to neutral at JPMorgan Soco downgraded to underperform at RBC Featured Video from IGTV Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Asian overnight: Another bearish session overnight saw Chinese and Hong Kong indices lead the decline, with the first round of tariffs on Chinese goods set to take effect on Friday. The recent decline in the yuan was arrested, with strong dollar selling pressure from Chinese banks looking like intervention from the Chinese authorities. Australian data came in mixed, with a strong retail sales reading counteracted by a lower than expected trade balance figure. Meanwhile, the Chinese Caixin services PMI rose sharply, driving the measure to rise from 52.9 to 53.9. UK, US and Europe: The services PMI theme looks set to continue, with European nations releasing their own version throughout the morning. The big focus will be upon the UK services PMI figure, with the release playing a key part in dictating GDP estimates for Q2. Meanwhile, the US markets are closed as the country celebrates Independence Day. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 9.30am – UK services PMI (June): expected to fall to 53 from 54. Markets to watch: FTSE 100/250, GBP crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Sainsbury’s said that sales rose 0.8% in Q1, and were up 0.2% on a like-for-like basis. Price cuts had helped to boost performance. SIG reported a 0.6% rise in first-half revenue, with currency improvements offsetting bad weather. Revenue was flat on a like-for-like basis. National Express has secured a €1 billion contract to operate buses in Morocco, with 500 buses carrying 109 million passengers a year across 61 routes. Topps Tiles suffered a 2.3% drop in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 1 July. BN FP upgraded to outperform at RBC GFT upgraded to hold at Kepler Cheuvreux Petra Diamonds upgraded to outperform at RBC Brunello Cucinelli downgraded to hold at Berenberg Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Asian overnight: Sharp declines overnight are pushing the bulls out the way and the overnight session looks to be paving the way for a bearish start to the week in Europe, with circa 2% losses across Japanese and Chinese markets. The Hang Seng market was closed for a bank holiday while the Australian ASX 200 managed to limit the losses. Trade wars are back on the agenda as a key concern for markets, with a European Commission statement against car tariffs making little difference to sentiment for now. Data wise, we saw the Japanese Tankan manufacturing survey fall from 24 to 21, while the Chinese Caixin manufacturing PMI number moved slightly lower, to 51.0 (from 51.1). UK, US and Europe: The manufacturing focus remains today, with a host of final manufacturing PMI readings from a host of eurozone countries leading into the initial UK figure for June. With Canadian markets on holiday, the focus is on the US, where once again it is the manufacturing surveys which take precedence. South Africa: After strong gains on Friday, the local bourse looks set to open up weaker today after the Asian markets poor performance on Monday. Friday's gains can in part be attributed to quarter end window dressing, although the underlying market pressures of trade war concerns and a flight from emerging markets remain. A strengthening dollar is seeing precious metals, the rand, and oil trading lower this morning. BHP Billiton is trading 0.9% lower in Australia, suggestive of a softer start for local resource counters. The weaker rand is expected to weigh on local banking and retail counters on open. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) 9.30am – UK mfg PMI (June): expected to fall to 53.5 from 54.4. Market to watch: GBP crosses 10am – eurozone unemployment rate (May): forecast to fall to 8.4% from 8.5%. Market to watch: EUR crosses 3pm – US ISM mfg PMI (June): expected to fall to 58.3 from 58.7. Markets to watch: US indices, USD crosses Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Tesco has announced a strategic buying partnership with Carrefour, that will involve joint purchasing of own brand products and goods. Meggitt upgraded annual revenue guidance, thanks to a stronger than forecast performance in Q2. Organic revenue growth for the year through December is expected to be 4-6% from 2-4%. Aeroports de Paris raised to overweight at JPMorgan Chargeurs upgraded to buy at AlphaValue Cloetta upgraded to buy at SEB Equities Novo Nordisk upgraded to outperform at Bernstein Investec upgrade Capitec Holdings (SA) to buy with a target price of 103400c Investec upgrade Impala Platinum (SA) to buy with a target price of 2500c Eurofins Scientific cut to reduce at Kepler Cheuvreux Infineon downgraded to underweight at Barclays Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

Expected index adjustments Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 2nd July 2018. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video. NB: Special Divs are highlighted in orange Special Dividends You can see the special dividends listed below. Unfortunately we do not have granular insight on the effect on the index for the index in question, however the below maybe helpful for some. Please note the dates below are the stock adjustments in the underlying, whilst the index div adjustments are taken out the day before on the IG platform at the cash close. How do dividend adjustments work? As you know, constituent stocks of an index will periodically pay dividends to shareholders. When they do, the overall value of the index is effected, causing it to drop by a certain amount. Each week, we receive the forecast for the number of points any index is due to drop by, and we publish this for you. As dividends are scheduled, public events, it is important to remember that leveraged index traders can neither profit nor lose from such price movements. This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

I also think that given it’s been so sunny in Europe these last few weeks (and likely to continue) that people are more likely to bet. My reasoning more people down the pub more social atmosphere drink more ... maybe? (worth looking at some brewery’s too as a trade idea in my opinion, and retail) more likely to bet. I know I’ve placed a bet on the back of friend chat and the buzz down the local. *NB: this doesn't constitute confirmation or an opinion on the trade idea itself, or an opinion on stock direction or a buy/sell signal.

Asian overnight: A wildly varied session overnight saw losses for the likes of the Nikkei 225 and ASX 200 counterbalanced by strong gains in the Shenzhen composite (2%) and Hang Seng (1.3%). The euro gained sharply overnight, as an agreement at the EU summit over immigration was seem to appease hard line anti-immigration leaders, and crucially ease the pressure on Angela Merkel. On the data front, a raft of Japanese economic figures saw improved inflation, unemployment, industrial production, and housing starts. UK, US and Europe: Looking ahead, the economic calendar looks to set up a busy day, with the release of the final UK GDP reading, alongside the flash eurozone CPI reading for June. With yesterday’s GDP reading from the US was revised lower from 2.2% to 2.0%, there is going to be of particular interest for this UK figure. Meanwhile, with the ECB heavily reliant upon the trajectory of inflation, traders should be watching out for the CPI figure as a driver of euro volatility. In the US session, watch out for the release of US personal income and spending, which will be hugely important given the influence of domestic consumption as a driver of US growth. Economic calendar - key events and forecast (times in BST) Source: Daily FX Economic Calendar Corporate News, Upgrades and Downgrades Serco said that it expects underlying trading profit for the first half to rise by 20%, but that revenue for the period would be around £1.35 billion, down from £1.51 billion a year earlier. BAE Systems has won a $35 billion contract to provide nine new frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. Production is expected to begin in the early 2020s. Allianz raised to overweight at JPMorgan BAE upgraded to neutral at JPMorgan Swatch upgraded to buy at Citi Ageas downgraded to hold at SocGen Amer Sports downgraded to reduce at Inderes Bpost cut to equal-weight at Morgan Stanley Hunting cut to underweight at Morgan Stanley Please note: This information has been prpared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.