The Market Close - Babcock up 3% today pre Q1 results but can it produce the goods? - Collins Sarri Statham Investments

Today's Closing Update

U.S. shares struggled to add to early gains and push Wall Street’s recent climb to a fourth straight session, as investor sentiment was subdued in the wake of a Monday night terrorist attack in the U.K.

European and U.K. shares rose, with French shares among biggest advancers as eurozone economic activity remained at a six-year high. With the rest of europe resilient.

Government borrowing was at its highest April level for three years, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, was £10.4bn last month, up by £1.2bn from April 2016. Public sector net debt was £1.72tn, equivalent to 86% of GDP, an increase of £114bn on April 2016.The ONS also adjusted the shortfall total from the last financial year from £52bn to £48.7bn.

Babcock International Group were rising ahead of the engineering and service provider’s annual results, in which analysts anticipate solid lifts in revenue and earnings to be reported. Babcock, formed by four divisions of Marine, Land, Aviation and Cavendish Nuclear, will report its annual results for the year to the end of March tomorrow and company-compiled consensus of analyst forecasts imply the company will see a 6.4% increase in revenue and a 7.2% rise in underlying pretax profit.

Apple and Nokia have settled a dispute over the use of patented technology in smartphones and agreed to “co-operate”. In December, Nokia sued Apple claiming the company had breached 32 technology patents covering displays, user interfaces and video encoding. The two companies have now signed a deal allowing Apple to use the technology, and Nokia will receive an up-front cash payment. Apple will also stock Nokia’s health products in its retail stores.

UDG Healthcare said profit increased in the first half of its current financial year on the back of higher revenue, prompting the healthcare services provider to raise its full-year targets. UDG reported revenue covering the six months to the end of March totalling $578.9m, up 7.6% from $538m the year before, leading to gross profit of $166.0m versus $152.8m.

Ryanair Holdings announced a new flight partnership with Spanish airline Air Europa Lineas Aereas SAU, which will allow Ryanair customers to book Air Europa long-haul flights on Ryanair’s website. Under the partnership, customers will be able to book from a choice of 20 long-haul routes from Madrid to 16 countries in North, Central and South America. The second phase of the partnership to be launched later this year will allow Ryanair customers to connect on to Air Europa long-haul flights through Madrid. Air Europa is Spain’s third-largest airline after Iberia and Vueling, both of which are owned by British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA.

Healthcare company Syncona said its portfolio company Blue Earth Diagnostics has received confirmation of approval by the European Commission of its first product, fluciclovine-18F or Axumin. The approval allows Axumin to be sold in all European Union member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The product will be initially sold in Norway, with the intention to roll it out to additional countries in 2018. Axumin is intended for use in positron emission tomography imaging to identify suspected sites of prostate cancer recurrence in men.

Oil Prices rose as expectations of an extension to OPEC-led supply cuts supported prices, reversing losses earlier in the session after a White House proposal suggested selling off half the country’s huge oil stockpile.

Gold prices were little changed as the dollar steadied near 6-1/2 month lows and traders locked in profits after two weeks of gains, shrugging off heightened political risk following a deadly suicide attack in Britain.

Market Close

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,485.3	-11.1	-0.2%
UK 250	19,920.1	+7.6	+0.0%
GER 30	12,659.2	+39.7	+0.3%
FRA 40	5,348.2	+25.3	+0.5%
U.S. 30	20,937.72	+42.89	+0.2%
U.S. 500	2,399.6	+5.6	+0.2%
OIL (BRENT)	54.09	+0.22	+0.4%
GOLD	1,260.01	-0.62	-0.1%

UK Risers & Fallers

Company	Price	Change	% Change
Homeserve	778.25	+75.5	+10.8%
Babcock International Group	969.5	+28	+3.0%
Easyjet	1301	+32	+2.4%
Restaurant Group	313.45	-23.7	-7.0%
Kingfisher	359.2	-8.9	-2.4%
Shire	4710	-113..5	-2.4%

Reported Economic Data

Time/Date	Previous	Forecast	Outcome
8:30am: Public Sector Net Borrowing	4.4bn	8bn	9.6B
9:00am: Inflation Report Hearings	–	–	–
10:00am: CBI Realised Sales	38	12	2