Market update: Markets look to Obama’s State of Union speech for inspiration

US stocks closed lower overnight ahead of President Obama’s State of Union speech where the US economy and the federal deficit will be top of the agenda. Administration officials expect Obama to pressure Congress to support his proposals to boost the economy and reveal his plans to create jobs and help the middle classes. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both finished Monday down 0.1% while the Dow Jones lost 0.2%.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 is trading flat early this morning following yesterday’s weakness, which saw the FTSE Eurofirst lose 0.7%. At the time of writing the FTSE 100 is up 0.2%. Barclays reported a full-year loss of £1.04bn and plans to axe 3,700 jobs in a cost cutting drive. The banking group posted £246m in pre-tax profit for 2012, compared with £5.88bn in 2011. An “own credit distortion” due to the fluctuating value of its issued debt was cited as a key contributor to the large decline in profits. Michelin is down almost 4% after profits of €2.42bn missed analyst targets of €2.52bn. This morning, UK annual consumer price inflation for January has come in unchanged for a fourth month in a row at 2.7%, according to the Office for National Statistics. Upward price pressure originated from increases in alcohol and air fares, while there were slower increases in miscellaneous goods & services such as money transfer fees and clothing.