| | | | | Q2's Top 10 Stock Picks | | What trading opportunities do the next 3 months hold? Our latest quarterly stocks report unveils our Top 10 Stock Picks for Q2 as well as a review of the key Q1 stories & preview of the coming quarter's pivotal events, and analysis of the best, and worst, FTSE share price performances year to date. Losses can exceed deposits. Download Report | | |
| | London open: Sainsburys paces the advance on Asda tie-up plans |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  |  |  |  | | Please click on the images to view our interactive charts | | | London stocks edged higher in early trade on Monday, underpinned by merger news as Sainsburys confirmed plans to merge with Walmart's UK unit, Asda. At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 7,513.27, while the pound was down 0.2% versus the dollar at 1.3758 and 0.1% lower against the euro at 1.1352. Sainsbury's surged 18.5% after confirming that it has agreed terms with Walmart over a merger with UK supermarket chain Asda to create a £51bn-revenue giant in exchange for a £3bn cash payment. The agreed deal will see Sainsbury's, which also reported its final results, hold 58% of combined business and retain its chairman, chief executive and chief financial officer, as well as its listing in London. Tesco shares were down 4.3% on the news, while Morrisons was 2.8% lower. Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Obviously regulators are going to have a LOT to say about such a landscape-shifting deal, meaning there’s a long way to go before this bonkers but potentially brilliant marriage becomes a reality. "Investors are already signalling how they feel about the merger, however; Sainsbury’s rocketed as much as 20% higher after the bell, sitting between £3.15 and £3.20 for the first time in a few months shy of four years." In its 52-week fiscal year, Sainsbury's reported a return to profit growth, with underlying profit before tax up 1.4% to £589m, with profits up 11% in the second half after cutting £185m of costs. Looking to the current year, Coupe said he was "comfortable" with the current City forecast for underlying pre-tax profit of 7% to £629m. Elsewhere, Mondi was in the black after announcing the acquisition of Egypt's National Company for Paper Products and Import & Export (NPP) for EGP 510m (€23.7m) on a debt and cash free-basis. Advertising giant WPP rallied as it posted a 0.8% increase in first-quarter like-for-like revenue as it reiterated its guidance for 2018. Old Mutual advanced as the Anglo-South African financial services group said that its businesses continue to trade in line with the expectations outlined in its results back in March. Aviva edged higher after saying it will make goodwill payments to shareholders who sold preference shares in the period from 8 to 22 March. Randgold Resources fell after saying that industrial disputes at its Tongon gold mine in Côte d'Ivoire would hit 2018 production guidance of 290,000 ounces although it was making efforts to recover lost output. Rank Group ticked lower after the FTSE 250 gambling company appointed former Ladbrokes executive John O'Reilly as chief executive with effect from 7 May, succeeding Henry Birch, while Mike Ashley's Sports Direct was in the red after disclosing stakes in US companies Finish Line and Iconic Brand Group. On the broker note front, Barclays downgraded Victrex to 'underweight' and reinstated Elementis at 'equalweight'. |
| | Daily cryptocurrency Tracker 30.4.18: Bitcoin holding above $9,300 | | Relatively lower volatility was seen in the crypto market over the weekend, as Bitcoin held above $9,300. All top 8 cryptos registered losses over the past 24 hours, with EOS... Read More.. |
| | Market Status | Top 10 FTSE 100 RisersTop 10 FTSE 100 Fallers |
| | Atlantic Advisory - Share Tips of the Year 2018 | | Download Our Latest Report Here Losses can exceed deposits |
| | Europe open: Stocks tick higher as Sainsburys rallies on Asda merger |  | | FTSE 100 | Euronext | Dax perf | CAC 40 |  | | | | | | European stocks ticked a little higher in early trade on Monday, with deal news helping to underpin sentiment as Sainsburys confirmed plans to merge with Walmart's Asda. At 1010 BST, Germany's DAX was up 0.2% to 12,608.37, France's CAC 40 was 0.2% higher at 5,491.44 and the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 was 0.1% firmer at 384.95. Sainsbury's surged after confirming that it has agreed terms with Walmart over a merger with UK supermarket chain Asda to create a £51bn-revenue giant in exchange for a £3bn cash payment. The agreed deal will see Sainsbury's hold 58% of combined business and retain its chairman, chief executive and chief financial officer, as well as its listing in London. Shares of rival supermarkets Tesco and Morrisons were down on the news. Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The stance of the Competition and Markets Authority will be critical to the viability of this deal. The recent approval of Tesco's takeover of Booker group may give some cause for confidence, though that deal was a vertical rather than a horizontal integration, with neither company competing directly in their key markets. "If the deal goes through, the prospect of Sainsbury, Asda, and Argos working together, with Walmart chipping in too, is a pretty powerful combination. It would also be good for consumers, who can expect lower prices as a result. Meanwhile the executives of other supermarkets no doubt have their head in their hands at the prospect of another price war." Deutsche Telekom was on the front foot after Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US agreed an all-stock $26bn merger. Deutsche Telekom is the parent company of T-Mobile. WPP racked up strong gains after the advertising giant posted a 0.8% increase in first-quarter like-for-like revenue as it reiterated its guidance for 2018. On the macroeconomic front, figures from the European central bank showed that money supply in the euro area rose 3.7% year-over-year in March, down from a 4.2% gain in February and below expectations for a 4.1% increase. Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "The headline plunge pushed money supply growth to its slowest pace since 2014 and even a cursory glance at the chart suggests that momentum has now broken its recent trend to the downside. What's worse, the decline mainly was a result of a 0.9 percentage point decline in M1 growth to 7.5%. The hit chiefly came from a slowdown in overnight deposits, but momentum in currency in circulation also dipped. Elsewhere, the year-over-year decline in M2 eased but growth in repurchase agreements slowed. "We hope for a rebound next month, but for now, these data suggest that the eurozone economy is slowing faster than we initially expected, and almost certainly much more quickly than the consensus expects." Meanwhile, German retail sales fell 0.6% on the month in March, missing expectations for a 0.8% jump. The year-over-year rate was unchanged at 1.3% versus expectations of 1.0%. Vistesen said this was "another disappointing economic headline for the Germany economy in Q1". |
| | Paradigm Capital are introducing structured real estate assets comprising of fixed income opportunities and managed fund positions | | It is increasingly clear the time for tangible assets is looming. Head for portfolio consolidation as opposed to market speculation. Click to register |
| | Crypto Currencies | | |
| | US close: Stocks struggle to find traction amid mixed corporate results | | Wall Street's main market gauges struggled to find traction on Friday, with losses in shares of Exxon Mobil and Intel weighing on the Dow Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite, respectively. The drag from those two companies, alongside the likes of US Steel, kept the S&P 500 from closing higher for the week, although it came within a whisker, thanks to well-received updates from some of Wall Street's biggest tech names, such as Amazon.com and Microsoft. Also buoying sentiment was a stronger than expected reading on the US economy during the first quarter and a retreat in longer-term US government bond yields. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 0.05% or 11.15 points at 24,311.19, while the S&P 500 edged higher by 0.11% or 2.97 points to 2,669.91 and the Nasdaq Composite was almost unchanged, having gained 0.02% or 1.12 points to finish at 7,119.80. Yet in the background, some analysts appeared to be turning somewhat more 'bullish', with strategists at BoA-Merrill for example telling clients: "Even better news = synchronized monetary blinking: China is easing (the 1st catalyst for US$ rally) & BoE/BoC/Riksbank all "blinking" as FX appreciation + no global inflation allows central banks to turn dovish." To take note of as well, and in a potentially positive development for near-term trading, at 5.4 BoA's Bull&Bear Indicator had moved back into 'neutral' territory during the last week. On the economic front, Commerce reported that the annualised rate of growth in US gross domestic product slowed from a 2.9% clip over the last three months of 2017 to 2.3% in the first quarter of 2018. That was nonetheless better than the 2.1% pace economists had penciled-in, especially taking into account the typical seasonal and statistical quirks inherent in readings on the economy in the first quarter of the year. Furthermore, in nominal terms Friday's data had pushed the nominal year-on-year rate of growth in US GDP from 4.3% to 4.8% - its best reading since the start of 2015 - according to Berenberg Capital Markets. "The improved momentum in current-dollar spending will result in upward pressure on inflation and wage-setting behaviour. Sustained strong gains in business investment, which rose a solid 6% in Q1, would generate a pickup in productivity gains," said Berenberg's Mickey Levy and Roiana Reid following the data. Significantly, at the end of the week the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was down by two basis points at 2.95%. Stock in Amazon.com was at the head of the tech parade on Friday after the company said late on Thursday that revenues surged 43% in the first quarter, while net profit rose to $1.6bn from $724m in the same period a year ago. Its shares traded 3.6% higher. Microsoft was also in the black after better-than-expected quarterly results late on Thursday and strong guidance, although chip-maker Intel gave back early gains despite delivering a quarterly earnings beat and upbeat outlook. Expedia shares surged alongside after posting better than forecast quarterly sales late on Thursday together with a smaller than expected loss. On the downside, Exxon Mobil and United States Steel paced losses in the market. Weighing on the former were its mixed quarterly results despite higher commodity prices and cost reductions, while Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based US Steel was down after warning of the possibility of "operational volatility" in the year ahead. Stock in Starbucks also retreated following mixed second-quarter results while shares in Colgate-Palmolive were edging higher despite a quarterly revenue miss before the opening bell. On the geopolitical front, Kim Jong-un pledged a "new history" in relations with his neighbours as became the first North Korean leader to visit South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The two leaders signed a declaration pledging to work towards a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and agreed to formally end the Korean War with a peace treaty. |
| | Monday newspaper round-up: Russian oligarchs, Hermes, T-Mobile, Sainsburys/Asda | | Labour has called on ministers to toughen the scrutiny and regulation of City flotations as a matter of urgency following the controversial $7bn (£5bn) London flotation of En+, a Russian metals group controlled by oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, called on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to introduce serious measures against oligarchs and consider “tightening initial considerations around listings” after the US said it would introduce economic sanctions against the Russian billionaire. – Guardian The delivery company Hermes faces a legal battle with a group of its own drivers today, in the latest case promising to have major ramifications on labour rights in the growing gig economy. The move follows similar recent hearings on how companies, including the ride-hailing firm Uber, engage gig economy workers, so-called because employees are paid in return for the “gigs” they perform. - Guardian British and European steel makers are bracing for a fresh crisis in the industry unless the US backs down from its protectionist stance and extends an exemption on import tariffs. The US granted temporary relief to European producers from 25pc tariffs on steel and 10pc levies on aluminium as Donald Trump, the US president, introduced the measure in a move widely seen as targeting imports from China. - Telegraph T-Mobile has announced it will buy rival Sprint and form a new company valued at $146bn, taking the spot as the third largest carried in the US. The carrier will pay $26bn (£18.9bn) to take over Sprint, clinching a nine-year courtship between the pair in a move that will up its customer base to 127m. - Telegraph Councils are missing out on cheap government loans because of a decade-old rule change that means they face a bill of nearly £30 billion to refinance their borrowings. Some local governments are paying 9 per cent interest rates to the Treasury because of the “exorbitant” penalties they face for early repayment. An analysis of councils’ £62 billion debts by Risky Finance, a specialist financial website, found that the cost to authorities if they were to repay the money today would be £29 billion. - The Times City investment banks, lawyers and other professional services firms could share more than £100 million in fees from the merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda, with the two grocery chains set to face more than a year of complex negotiations to seal their deal. Morgan Stanley and UBS, the Sainsbury’s advisers that also worked on the takeover of Home Retail Group, Argos’s owner, have been drafted in to work on the combination, while Rothschild is said to be working for Asda, which is owned by Walmart, of the United States. - The Times As Andrew Tyrie prepares to take up his post as chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority, the watchdog is preparing for what could be its biggest challenge since its formation five years ago. As a former Conservative MP, Mr Tyrie will not need to be reminded that the potential merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda, respectively the UK’s second and third largest grocers, will be hugely political. More than 340,000 workers will be affected, as will the daily shopping habits of tens of millions of Britons. - Telegraph | | | | To advertise in the Euro Markets Bulletin please contact advertise@advfn.com |
| | | | | | ADVFN Disclaimer Although we have sent you this email, ADVFN does not endorse any product or company nor is it responsible for the content of this news bulletin. We have not independently reviewed the information; claims or testimonials provided within the news bulletin and make no guarantee or warranty regarding its content. The opinions and recommendations expressed in this email are not those of ADVFN. |
| | | |
| Registered Office/Accounts Dept:
Suite 27, Essex Technology Centre,
The Gables, Fyfield Road, Ongar,
Essex, CM5 0GA. | | Support Tel: 0207 0700 961
Company registered in England and Wales:
Number 2374988
VAT No: GB 549 2130 49 | | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment