The Market Close - Trump fires FBI Chief James Comey - Collins Sarri Statham Investments

Today's Closing Update

U.S. shares edged lower in early trade, as the stunning firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey stoked fresh questions about President Donald Trump’s to build enough consensus in Washington to implement market-friendly polices.

UK and European Shares edged lower, barring the U.K. indices, in a broad-based pullback that dragged the market’s benchmark off a 21-month high..

Barclay’s directors have been re-elected to the board with huge majorities. There was a 2.82% rebellion against Jes Staley’s reappointment as chief executive, 2.78% voted against the remuneration report

Diageo said it will have to pay £107m in additional tax and interest for its financial 2015 and 2016 years under HM Revenue & Customs’ Diverted Profits Tax regime, but said it will challenge the assessment. HMRC’s Diverted Profits Tax regime, which came into effect in April 2015, is a tax charged at 25% on profits that are considered to be artificially diverted from the UK.

Paddy Power Betfair has entered into the daily fantasy sports market in the United States with the acquisition of an early-stage operator, DRAFT. The initial cash consideration paid on completion was $19m. Further cash consideration of up to $29m would become payable over the next four years depending on the business’ performance. DRAFT was mobile-led, with a differentiated product. This acquisition provided Paddy Power Betfair with exposure to a fast-growing market (c.90% CAGR between 2014 and 2016 to over $300m revenues) and complements our other businesses in the US.

About 800 jobs are to be cut in a planned merger of two of Scotland’s biggest financial companies. The posts will be cut over three years during restructuring after the £11bn merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management. The two companies currently have a combined worldwide workforce of approximately 9,000 people. The information is contained in a detailed prospectus published by Standard Life on the deal.

Marshalls said group sales and order intake have continued to be strong in the first four months of 2017 and that directors are increasingly encouraged regarding its performance for the current year overall. “The Construction Products Association’s (CPA) recent Spring Forecast predicts growth in UK market volumes of 1.3% in 2017, which represents a slight improvement on their Winter Forecast,” the company said. “Group sales and order intake have continued to be strong in the first 4 months of 2017 such that the Board is now increasingly encouraged regarding the Group’s performance for the current year overall,” it said.

The Competition and Markets Authority has referred Just Eat’s proposed acquisition of Hungryhouse to an in-depth phase 2 investigation. Following its initial investigation into the proposed merger, the CMA has found that the companies are close competitors due to the similarity of their service and their broad geographical coverage.

Capita’s proposed takeover of Vodafone’s pagers business could be referred for an in-depth phase 2 investigation by the Capital Markets Authority if the companies don’t offer acceptable ways to address competition concerns.

GlaxoSmithKline announced results from the phase III studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab. Mepolizumab is an IL-5 antagonist monoclonal antibody being investigated as a potential add-on treatment for adults who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with an eosinophilic phenotype.

Oil Prices extended gains after a government data confirmed a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude inventories as refineries cut output.

Gold prices edged off the previous day’s eight-week low as U.S. President Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI chief James Comey hit share markets, but expectations of further U.S. interest rate hikes capped gains by the metal.

Market Close

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,385.2	+43.0	+0.6%
UK 250	19,876.8	+59.9	+0.3%
GER 30	12,757.5	+8.3	+0.1%
FRA 40	5,400.5	+2.5	+0.1%
U.S. 30	20,953.73	-22.05	-0.1%
U.S. 500	2,398.3	+1.4	+0.1%
OIL (BRENT)	50.09	+1.36	+2.79%
GOLD	1,221.13	-0.10	-0.0%

UK Risers & Fallers

Company	Price	Change	% Change
Vesuvius	590.75	+48	+8.8%
Hargreaves Lansdown	1446	+38	+2.7%
A.B. Foods	2877	+67	+2.4%
TalkTalk	169.15	-13.7	-7.5%
ITV	196.2	-4.6	-2.3%
Pearson	721	-13	-1.8%

Reported Economic Data

Time/Date	Previous	Forecast	Outcome
12:00pm: ECB President Draghi Speaks	–	–	–
12:30pm: U.S. Import Prices m/m	-0.2%	0.2%	0.5%
2:30pm: U.S. Crude Oil Inventories	-2.0m	-0.9m	-5.2m