| | | | | | | Stocks for your stocking this Christmas As it’s the season for sharing Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, comments on five companies that ‘yule’ likely see prosper as a result of the festive season. Capital at risk. Read more | | |
| | London Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London close: Shares hold on to record highs London stocks finished the session little changed as strength in miners helped to offset the positive tone in the pound, although trading volumes and news were light heading into the new year. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.03% to 7,622.88, having earlier breached Wednesday's all-time intra-day high of 7,632.71. Meanwhile, the pound was down 0.18% against the euro at 1.1250 and up 0.31% versus the dollar at 1.3444. Analyst Henry Croft at Accendo Markets said: "The US dollar extending its sell-off, falling to its lowest level since 1 December, has aided the commodities rally, while growth barometer copper trading a fresh four-year high has sparked confidence that global economic growth will be broadly positive in 2018." A survey released earlier by the British Confederation of Industry showed that manufacturers, service sector companies and retailers reported the sharpest rise in output in two years in December. The survey of 642 companies across the three sectors showed growth in the private sector in the three months to December rose to a balance of 19% from a balance of 6% in the three months to November and marking its highest reading since December 2015. Anna Leach, head of economic intelligence at the CBI, said: "Private sector firms are enjoying healthy activity levels, but mediocre expectations for growth underline the ongoing challenges facing companies. Persistent cost pressures will ensure that inflation remains at a high level, perpetuating the squeeze on household spending." Also on Thursday, industry figures showed remortgaging fuelled increased mortgage lending in October but businesses were reluctant to borrow amid economic uncertainty. Gross mortgage borrowing from high street banks was £14.2bn in October - 16% higher than a year earlier, figures from trade association UK Finance showed. House purchase mortgage approvals of 40,488 were down 3% from October 2016 and were below the recent average though there were more first-time buyers, UK Finance said. By contrast, remortgage approvals of 34,036 were 37% higher than a year ago and up on the 27,163 average over the past six months. The Bank of England's clear signal that it would increase interest rates in November triggered a wave of remortgaging activity as borrowers sought to secure ultra-low rates on offer by banks. UK Finance said: "We expect this [trend] to continue in the short - term as our remortgage approvals data shows a large increase of over a third in approvals for October as customers locked in deals ahead of the expected rate rise." Credit card borrowing increased at an annual rate of 5.1%, slightly weaker than the 5.5% pace a month earlier, as consumers and banks responded to the prospect of higher interest rates and Bank of England warnings about lending. Personal loans and overdrafts fell at an annual rate of 2.7% compared with 2.2% a month earlier, reflecting consumers' increasing use of cards for borrowing. Mining stocks put in another strong performance as metals prices rallied, with BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American among the top risers. Elsewhere, Tritax Big Box REIT nudged up as it acquired a national distribution facility at Hickling Road in Cannock, Staffordshire, which is operated and let to Unilever UK for a total consideration of £44.25m. BGEO Group ticked higher as its real estate subsidiary, m2 Real Estate, signed its first major third-party construction contract, the total value of which is $11.6m. BT Group fell as its stock went ex-dividend. |
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| | Europe Market Report |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | Europe close: Rise in single currency weighs on shares A late bout of selling sent stocks lower as traders pushed the single currency higher going into the end of the year. By the close of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 0.26% or 1.0 point at 389.54, alongside a fall of of 0.55% to 5,339.42 for the Cac-40 and a drop of 0.36% for the FTSE Mibtel to 22,120.95. The German Dax, which is heavily weighted towards exporters, fared worst, surrendering 0.69% to end the day at 12,979.94. Meanwhile, the US dollar spot index was 0.45% lower to 92.61 while euro/dollar headed in the opposite direction, tacking on 0.49% to trade at 1.1960. On Wednesday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note declined by seven basis points to 2.41%, pushing the spread with the yield on two-year government debt to the near-decade low hit in early December, which had in turned weighed on the dollar. Come Thursday, government bonds on both side of the Atlantic were retracing the prior session's moves, but more so those from euro area countries, meaning that yields were climbing faster on this side of the Pond. Commenting on those movements in the US Treasury market, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "The US dollar is trading lower for a second day on Thursday, still struggling after yields on Treasuries slipped on Wednesday. The flattening of the yield curve has triggered concerns that investors are possibly pricing in a slowing of the economy or even a recession and while this has historically happened on such expectations, I'm not convinced this is the case this time. "Given the current environment, it's possible that this is more a reflection of longer term interest rates and the low inflation environment than the economic prospects. Still, if yields on long term US debt don't rise or even fall as the Fed raises interest rates, it could fuel fears of an impending recession." In the background, deadly attacks overnight in Russia and Afghanistan reminded investors of the current difficult geopolitical backdrop. On Wednesday evening, the explosion of a home-made bomb sowed chaos in a St.Petersburg supermarket, wounding at least 10 shoppers. Further afield, a suicide attack on an office of Afghan Voice, in Kabul, claimed at least 40 victims. On the corporate front, Lufthansa was in the spotlight after Germany's anti-trust officials queried for further information on ticket prices after receiving complaints of price hikes in the wake of rival Air Berlin's demise. Elsewhere, four of Italian lender Intesa San Paolo's top executives will step down in coming days, local daily Il Messaggero reported. In other news, Standard&Poor's revised its outlook on the long-term corporate debt of Fressenius Medical Care from 'stable' to 'positive'. |
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| | US Market Report | | US open: Stocks flat as investors digest data slew amid light volumes US stocks were little changed at the open on Thursday as investors sifted through a slew of data releases on an otherwise quiet day, with little in the way of corporate news and volumes thin ahead of the new year. At 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% to 24,816.49, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were flat at 2,683.57 and 6,940.05, respectively. Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "The US dollar is trading lower for a second day on Thursday, still struggling after yields on Treasuries slipped on Wednesday. The flattening of the yield curve has triggered concerns that investors are possibly pricing in a slowing of the economy or even a recession and while this has historically happened on such expectations, I'm not convinced this is the case this time. "Given the current environment, it's possible that this is more a reflection of longer term interest rates and the low inflation environment than the economic prospects. Still, if yields on long term US debt don't rise or even fall as the Fed raises interest rates, it could fuel fears of an impending recession." There was some good news on the data front, as the Chicago purchasing managers' index showed a rise to 67.6 this month - its highest since March 2011 - from 63.9 in November, versus expectations for a reading of 62. Elsewhere, data from the Labor Department showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits was steady last week, according to data from the Labor Department. US initial jobless claims were unchanged from the previous week's unrevised average of 245,000. Economists had been expecting claims to drop to 240,000. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 237,750, up 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 236,000. Meanwhile, preliminary figures from the Commerce Department revealed that America's shortfall on its foreign trade in goods widened last month, as import growth continued to outpace that in the country's exports. The goods deficit increased by 2.3% month-on-month to reach $69.7bn versus consensus expectations for $68.0bn. Import rose sharply, increasing by 2.7% to reach $203.4bn while exports were 2.9% higher to $133.7bn. Unsurprisingly given the time of year, corporate news was thin on the ground. Shares in trucking company JB Hunt fell after it issued fourth-quarter guidance that missed analysts' expectations. |
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Top of the stocks Number of Deals Bought Number of Deals Sold |
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| | Broker Tips | | Broker tips: Shire, Tullow Oil, Easyjet Liberum has downgraded Shire to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 4,100p from 4,200p, saying the risk/reward is more balanced. The brokerage noted that since upgrading the stock mid-November on valuation grounds, the shares are up 14% in dollar terms despite better-than-expected competitor haemophilia data and a small pipeline failure on Tuesday, when the company announced that clinical trials for a drug to treat Hunter syndrome in children, SHP609, failed to meet their primary and secondary endpoints. Liberum had pencilled in around $70m of risk adjusted peak sales for SHP609. Adjusting for the drug trial failure and FX moves - the impact of a stronger pound - Liberum cut its valuation to 4,100p a share, which now implies just 4.5% upside. "We still believe that, if handled right, the update on the neuroscience strategic review due by year end could be a catalyst for the shares, but with fundamental upside now limited the risk/reward is more balanced." Tullow Oil shares were boosted by an upgrade from Jefferies as analysts hiked their crude oil price forecasts for 2018, though Cairn Energy was downgraded due to its strong performance of late. Brent crude will average $63 a barrel in 2018, Jefferies forecast in a pair of Wednesday notes on oil companies, up from its previous $57 expectations, with the WTI forecast upped to $59 per barrel from $54. Analysts said they are "increasingly confident that the oil market will remain undersupplied through 2018" and that oil inventories will fall to five-year average levels in the third quarter of next year. "The incremental tightness in the market is more a function of robust demand that, while broad-based, is underpinned by accelerating Chinese growth," they wrote, expecting the market to remain tight. As a result of these crude price upgrades, forecasts for net asset values across its international exploration and production sector coverage increased on average 15%. Tullow Oil's successful refinancing without further equity dilution "removes a risk we were concerned about" and the new oil price forecast now suggests $741m free cash flow next year and so lifts Jefferies' target 3% to 180p. Tullow shares were therefore upgraded to 'hold' from 'underperform'. | | | | To advertise in the Euro Markets Bulletin please contact advertise@advfn.com |
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