• Chinese stimulus hopes fails to lift the FTSE
• Unilever among the best performers in the index after reporting earnings
• UK100 not far from all-time highs

It’s been another relatively flat session for equity markets, with investors seemingly having one eye on the Fed and ECB later in the week despite a strong showing in Chinese stocks earlier in the day.

They were lifted by the promise of Chinese Stimulus following the Politburo meeting this week and some potential relief for the property market. It’s been a tougher re-emergence from zero-Covid than many anticipated, with consumers still seemingly holding back and the property sector still reeling from the previous crackdown.

The enthusiasm hasn’t filtered through to Europe and the US though, perhaps due to the lack of detail currently on the stimulus measures, but also the distraction of the central bank meetings over the next 48 hours. Progress on inflation could mean both the Fed and ECB are about to announce their final rate hikes of the tightening cycle; the question is will they acknowledge that or maintain a hawkish position over the rest of the summer?

Unilever rallies amid hints at price pressures easing

Unilever is among the top performers on the FTSE 100 today, buoyed by a surge in profits in the last quarter. It comes at a challenging time when high inflation is pushing up costs and there is a growing spotlight on producers and supermarkets amid claims of profiteering.

What’s more, the cost-of-living crisis is pushing consumers toward cheaper own-brand products which partly contributed to a decline in sales volumes. The company did reassure investors that pressures are easing though which should be good news for households and the share price is also reaping the rewards, up around 5%.

Can the UK100 take the next step?

The UK100 has been on a good run over the last few weeks, taking it towards 7,700 where it is now running into some resistance.

UK100 Daily

Source – OANDA on Trading View

This has previously been a very notable area of resistance, most recently in the middle of June, and so overcoming it could be a significant bullish signal for the markets. The index is not trading too far from its all-time highs at this stage and so a break of this could draw attention to a few notable levels.

We’ve seen 7,800 and 7,850 provide plenty of support and resistance over the course of this year and so that area stands out on the chart. After that, there are a few more areas where price previously ran into some difficulty ahead of the high just above 8,000.

Around these levels, the stochastic and MACD indicators could offer some useful information on how much momentum remains with the rally and whether we’re potentially seeing doubts or profit-taking kicking in.