Traders short of the pound, long of FTSE

Spread betting punters are boldly approaching the late October “crash season” looking for a rebound the Dow and the FTSE, and they seem even more confident that the pound has further to fall.

Bookmakers say that trading volumes have picked up sharply in recent weeks, on the back of the setback in the stock market that saw the FTSE retreat from a high of 5500 back to the 5375 area.

Capital Spreads said it has seen a take-off in trading the Dax, since it trimmed its rolling Dax spread to two point. After taking a bearish view over recent weeks, punters were sitting on longs today, looking for a rebound in all the main indices.

IG Index said a small majority of its clients are now bullish of the indices, but there are also many expecting a pause before the next move down. .

On foreign exchange, both firms reported that punters were sticking to bearish views on the pound. IG said the market buzz seemed to be about a further fall in the sterling-dollar rate, towards the 1.70 area.

Gold, which hit a new high today just below $480, is also attracting heavy business.
Capital Spreads said its clients were short of the yellow metal, looking for a setback, after a “triple top”.

IG Index however said its punters were long of gold and also long of other precious metals such as silver and palladium. The latter hit its best levels for the year in recent days.

Cocoa is one of the few commodities that has been struggling lately.

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