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| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London open: Stocks edge higher, AB Foods jumps on Primark expansion - AB Foods jumps on Primark expansion plans
- Stocks rise, but upside limited
- BoE minutes, economic data ahead
- Chinese manufacturing PMI contracts again
techMARK 2,749.64 +0.41%
FTSE 100 6,688.65 +0.10%
FTSE 250 16,067.20 -0.09%
UK stocks edged higher on Wednesday morning with Primark owner Associated British Foods leading the risers as markets extended gains after a surge the day before.
AB Foods' share price jumped strongly this morning after the company announced plans to open its first Primark store in the States, as it rolls out the fast-growing fashion outlet overseas.
The FTSE 100 was trading 0.1% higher at 6,689 in early trading today, though upside was limited after a 0.9% gain on Tuesday on the back of heighted M&A activity and bid speculation in the global pharmaceutical sector.
"The gains over the last few days have seen a welcome turn around after the initial weak start to the month, but now as we edge near to the top of recent range, traders are looking hesitant in case sellers emerge again," said Dealer Jonathan Sudaria from Capital Spreadex.
The mood is likely to remain cautious ahead of a host of data and macro-economic announcements during the session, including the minutes of the Bank of England meeting this morning. Figures on UK public finances, a reading on business optimism from the CBI and US housing data will be in focus today, along with any developments in the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
Markets were also reacting to yet another contraction in the Chinese manufacturing sector this month. A private survey out from HSBC and Markit showed the 'flash' reading of the purchasing managers' index for Chinese manufacturing was 48.3 in April, up slightly from 48 in March but still below the key 50-point threshold that separates contraction and growth.
AB Foods jumps on US expansion, results
AB Foods was trading 9% higher after saying that it would open new Primark stores in north-east US. The chain, which already has stores in nine countries in Western Europe, has signed a lease for 70,000 square feet of selling space in Boston and will open the shop towards the end of 2015. Further stores are planned across the wider region through to the middle of 2016.
The company also reported a 4% increase in adjusted pre-tax profits to £468m for the 24 weeks to March 1st, helped by a 26% jump in operating profits at Primark.
Antofagasta was trading firmly in the red this morning after going ex-dividend, meaning that from today new investors won't be able to obtain the company's latest payout. FTSE 100-listed peers Aggreko, BG Group, Centrica, Legal & General, Mondi, Old Mutual and Rolls-Royce were also trading without the rights to their latest dividends this morning.
A number of FTSE 250 stocks were also lower after going ex-dividend, including Hikma, Drax, Kentz and Tullett Prebon.
AstraZeneca was continuing to rise on speculation that US pharmaceutical peer Pfizer could offer as much as £60bn to buy the company, representing the largest foreign takeover of a UK business on record. The stock, which rose 5% yesterday, was making solid gains this morning.
Similarly, GlaxoSmithKline was extending gains after yesterday unveiling a massive three-part deal with Swiss firm Novartis, under which shareholders will receive a £4bn a capital return.
Retail-focused property group Hammerson rose after giving a confident outlook, saying that an improving UK recovery filtered through to demand in the first quarter.
High street sporting goods retailer Sports Direct fell after seeing a slight slowdown in growth in the fourth quarter. The company also warned of "further uncertainty" arising from its decision to cancel a controversial bonus payout to founder Mike Ashley earlier this month. |
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| FTSE 100 - Risers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,970.00p +9.11%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,045.00p +2.15%
Wolseley (WOS) 3,431.00p +2.08%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,195.00p +1.56%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,384.00p +1.54%
Royal Mail (RMG) 529.50p +1.44%
Hammerson (HMSO) 580.50p +1.13%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,274.00p +1.05%
Tesco (TSCO) 295.35p +1.01%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,655.00p +0.91%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 794.00p -5.98%
Centrica (CNA) 330.00p -4.32%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 197.70p -3.14%
Old Mutual (OML) 197.90p -2.99%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 206.70p -2.59%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 964.00p -1.93%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 815.50p -1.75%
Mondi (MNDI) 988.50p -1.54%
Aberdeen Asset (ADN) 437.70p -1.37%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 891.50p -1.00%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Spirent Communications (SPT) 101.60p +5.18%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 180.00p +3.69%
Perform Group (PER) 245.00p +2.94%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 359.50p +2.07%
FirstGroup (FGP) 131.00p +1.71%
Polymetal International (POLY) 617.00p +1.48%
SEGRO (SGRO) 349.80p +1.39%
Synthomer (SYNT) 269.80p +1.28%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,100.00p +1.20%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 53.50p +1.13%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Drax Group (DRX) 689.00p -8.92%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 179.20p -3.97%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 300.50p -3.72%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 289.30p -3.50%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 433.20p -2.65%
Man Group (EMG) 100.50p -2.52%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 126.30p -2.32%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,967.00p -1.65%
Laird (LRD) 286.60p -1.55% |
| | UK Event Calendar | | Wednesday April 23rd
INTERIMS
Associated British Foods, Avacta Group, Fenner, Kcell Joint Stock Co GDR (Reg S), Smiths News
INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Close Brothers Group
INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Carr's Milling Industries, Mcbride
QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE
Assura Group Ltd.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30)
MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00)
New Homes Sales (US) (15:00)
'Flash' Manufacturing PMI (China) (09:45)
FINALS
Mobile Tornado Group, Phaunos Timber Fund Ltd.
IMSS
Hammerson, Moneysupermarket.com Group, Petra Diamonds Ltd. DI, Reed Elsevier, Spirent Communications, STV
SPECIAL EX-DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
GVC Holdings, Hikma Pharmaceuticals
AGMS
Biome Technologies, Cambria Africa, Damac Real Estate Development Limited GDR (Each Repr 3 Ord) (Reg S) , Dragon Oil, Drax Group, General Electric Co, Hammerson, Management Consulting Group, Manroy, Modern Water, Moneysupermarket.com Group, Spirent Communications, STV Group, Valirx
TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Carpetright, Record, Sports Direct International, Creston
UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
BoE Interest Rate Minutes (09:30)
CBI Industrial Trends Surveys (11:00)
FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Aggreko, Alkane Energy, Antofagasta, Balfour Beatty, BG Group, Brady, Bwin party Digital Entertainment, Centrica, Churchill China, Drax Group, DRS Data & Research , GVC Holdings, H.R. Owen, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Impax Environmental Markets, Invesco Perpetual UK Small Companies Inv Trust, Kentz Corporation Ltd., Kingspan Group, Legal & General Group, Lookers, M. P. Evans Group, Man Group, Merchants Trust, Microgen, Mondi, Octopus AIM VCT 2, Old Mutual, Pendragon, Portmeirion Group, Rathbone Brothers, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Smart Metering Systems, Somero Enterprises Inc.(Reg S), StatPro Group, Tullett Prebon, Vesuvius, Xchanging, Zotefoams
Q1
ARM Holdings |
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| | Europe Market Report | | | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe open: Equities move lower after manufacturing reports - French and German manufacturing PMIs diverge
- Tensions continue to simmer in Ukraine
- Euro slightly lower
- technology stocks worst performer
FTSE -100: 0.16%
Dax-30: -0.02%
Cac-40: -0.29%
FTSE Mibtel 30: -0.13%
Ibex 35: -0.14%
Stoxx 600: -0.14%
European stocks have come under slight selling pressure early on following mixed readings on the manufacturing sector in France and Germany.
The purchasing managers' index for France's manufacturing sector slipped to a reading of 50.9, from 52.1 in the month before consensus: 51.9.
German manufacturing, on the other hand, continued to shine, with that country's PMI risingto 54.2 from 53.7 in the month before.
Following the data, and as of 08:32, the euro/dollar had moved lower, to trade at 1.3816.
Acting as a backdrop, the US has dispatched hundreds of troops to Eastern Europe for manoeuvres. The order came after Kiev accused pro-Russian separatists of torturing and killing two persons and having shot at one of its aircraft
In a defensive move, European companies are increasing their stocks of natural gas, with flows from Britain to Europe having tripled over the past three weeks. Fresh cargoes of LNG from Qatar have been arriving at the UK's South Hook terminal. European LNG inventories have risen by 20% since the end of March.
Technology stocks lead falls
From a sector standpoint, the worst performance was logged by companies in the following industrial groups: Technology -1.05%, Utilities -0.66% and Construction -0.49%.
Shares of Scania AB are retreating by 4.2% as shareholder Alecta said Volkswagen's offer does not fully reflect Scania's long-term fundamental value.
Other asset classes nearly unchanged
The euro/dollar is up by 0.09% to 1.3818 level.
Front month Brent crude futures were edging higher by 0.073% to the $109.36/barrel mark on the ICE.
CAC 40 - Risers
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 2.88 +1.45%
Unibail-Rodamco (UL) € 193.40 +1.26%
Solvay (SOLB) € 116.95 +1.26%
Gemalto NV (GTO) € 85.76 +0.62%
Michelin (ML) € 93.97 +0.31%
Essilor International (EI) € 74.01 +0.24%
Pernod Ricard (RI) € 86.13 +0.22%
Sanofi (SAN) € 77.25 +0.16%
LVMH (MC) € 143.20 +0.07%
CAC 40 - Fallers
Safran (SAF) € 48.38 -2.80%
Publicis Groupe Sa (PUB) € 61.96 -2.33%
Vinci (DG) € 54.00 -1.19%
GDF Suez (GSZ) € 19.78 -0.78%
Alstom (ALO) € 23.20 -0.75%
Danone (BN) € 52.17 -0.67%
Schneider Electric (SU) € 65.60 -0.61%
Airbus Group N.V. (AIR) € 51.06 -0.60%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 43.76 -0.60%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 11.49 -0.56% |
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| | US Market Report | | US close: Pharma M&A provides shot in the arm - M&A at Allergan, Glaxo, Novartis lifts sentiment
- Netflix gains as corporate earnings impress
- US housing data slightly ahead of forecasts
Dow Jones: 0.40%
Nasdaq: 0.97%
S&P 500: 0.41%
US stocks gained for the sixth day in a row as a flurry of M&A activity in the health sector provided a shot in the arm for sentiment, as positive earnings updates elsewhere continued to outnumber the negative.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% and S&P 500 0.41%, while the Nasdaq rose by 1%.
Botox and breast implants group Allergan flew highest on Wednesday, climbing 15.38% to $163.84, after Valeant Pharmaceuticals launched a cash-and-stock bid valuing the company at $152.88 a share, equal to around $47bn.
The offer was made possible by activist investor Bill Ackman, who has built a near-10% stake in Allergan through hedge fund Pershing Square. Ackman said in a statement: "The combination of Valeant and Allergan represents the most strategic and value-creating transaction I have ever analysed."
European pharma dealmaking between GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis also provided a boost to the sector. Glaxo's US-listed share climbed 4.1% to $55.30, while Novartis shares traded on the NYSE put on 1.29% to $86.56.
Following this, Eli Lilly announced that it had agreed to buy Novartis' animal health division for $5.4bn in cash to expand its Elanco unit.
US firm Pfizer banked further gains on speculation that it could be launching a $100bn bid for Anglo-Swedish peer AstraZeneca.
Online video streaming provider Netflix was popular as it beat first quarter earnings expectations. The California-based company issued a bullish outlook saying it expects to double its US user base and also announced it will hike prices for new customers by up to $2 per month.
"So far most companies have beaten earnings, largely because estimates have been lowered due to the poor weather," observed CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.
Drifting down the other way was aerospace giant Lockheed Martin as its sales descended 3.6% in the first quarter, with rising profits overlooked by the market.
Water filtration group Pentair was worst of the fallers across the major indices as its sales missed analyst forecasts. Even though earnings up 26% to 73 cents per share, in line with forecasts, investors came down hard on sales down 2.8% due to foreign exchange headwinds.
Home sales dip, crude futures retreat
In economic news today, existing US home sales fell by 0.2% to 4.59m in March but came in ahead of the 4.56m consensus forecast.
Barclays analysts opined: "While this marks the seventh time in the past eight months that existing home sales have posted month-on-month declines, we think that transitory headwinds such as higher mortgage rates and unusually severe winter weather have played a significant role, and we would expect existing home sales to pick up as these effects fade."
Meanwhile, the FHFA's house price index increased by 0.6% in February, up from a revised 0.4% rise the month before and better than the 0.5% increase expected.
West Texas Intermediate futures were down 2.5% at $101.69 a barrel on the NYMEX. |
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| | Newspaper Round Up | | Wednesday newspaper round-up: LNG, Quindell, Eastern Europe Western powers are scrambling to increase their energy defences as the risk grows of a Russian halt to gas supplies. Travelling to Ukraine US Vice-President Joe Biden has already warned Russia that it would pay a very high price unless Moscow moves those troops which it has deployed on its western borders. Thus, European companies are increasing their stocks of natural gas (LNG), with gas flows from Britain to Europe having tripled over the past three weeks. Fresh cargoes of LNG from Qatar have been arriving at the UK's South Hook terminal. European LNG inventories have risen by 20 per cent since the end of March.
Stock in Quindell plunged yesterday after a barely known American investor, Gotham City, issued a damning report on the AIM-quoted outsourcing company, labelling it a "country club built on sand". The company's lawyers promptly replied, indicating that the claims were "false and malicious". The US website responded by calling those allegations "defamatory". The London listed firm has had a difficult year, with its share price having been punished by an opaque derivatives deal. As well, critics point to the poor track record of its founder at other quoted companies, such as The Innovation Group, The Times writes.
The US has dispatched hundreds of troops to Eastern Europe for manoeuvres. The order came after Kiev accused pro-Russian separatists of torturing and killing two persons and having shot at one of its aircraft. Hence the decision to try and reassure America's allies in the region. The Kremlin issued no response, The Wall Street Journal Europe reports.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has issued a warning to the paymasters at Britain's largest companies that they must do more to keep a lid on executives' pay, lest he be forced to take "further action". It is for this reason that the government will be scrutinising this year's AGM season, he said in a letter to the Chairman of the remuneration committees of the FTSE 100. His hope is that a "new approach" will be self-evident, The Daily Telegraph.
Energy market regulator Ofgem has embarked on a campaign urging customers to shop around more, in an attempt to challenge the current culture of apathy. That follows on the heels of research showing that 45% of users believed that they had little to gain from switching suppliers. Dermot Nolan, Ofgem's new chief executive, said: "We shop and compare prices for many things in life, yet we often don't think to do the same when it comes to our energy bills, even when we could be saving around £200," The Times reports.
In year-on-year terms net lending to businesses contracted by £500m during the three months to February. That marks an improvement on the £3.3bn annual fall seen in the three months before that. However, the bank funds which are vital to credit starved small and medium-sized businesses continue to be denied, forcing those towards other avenues to finance their growth. That was the conclusion reached by IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer, although Bank did highlight that an increase in repayments by the property sector had contributed to the fall, The Times reports. | | |
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