The Morning Call - Fox and Murdoch offer no concessions as referral looms large.

Highlights of the Day

Asian Markets

Asian shares were mixed as investors awaited a raft of corporate earnings due out next week. The Federal Reserve chair’s second day of testimony to Congress generated little market-moving news.

U.S. Markets

U.S. shares made modest gains as Banks and technology companies led the major indices higher, pushing the U.S.30 industrial average to its second record close in two days.

Today's News

Rupert Murdoch will not look to strike a deal with UK Culture Secretary Karen Bradley to make Sky News more independent and fast-track 21st Century Fox Inc’s £11.7m takeover of Sky. Bradley has given Fox until today to offer further concessions to avoid the deal being referred to the UK Competition & Markets Authority, after saying late June that she was “minded” to refer the deal on the grounds of media plurality. According to the Guardian report, the lack of concessions will simplify Bradley’s review of the submissions her department has received, making it “highly likely” Bradley will “just have time” to announce she is calling in the competition regulator before parliament breaks for summer recess at the end of next week.

Nearly 1.5m new cars were sold in the European Union last month, the best June result since 2007, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. On a yearly basis, the market expanded by 2.1%, with the best results registered in Italy and Spain, while Germany and the UK bucked the trend, with sales slipping by 3.5% and 4.8% respectively. From January to June, more than 8.2m cars were sold, up 4.7% on the first half of 2016. Italy and Spain were again the best performers among major EU markets, with year-on-year increases of 8.9% and 7.1%, ACEA said.

DCC said first quarter trading was in line with expectations and expected the full year to produce “profit and growth”. “Were current foreign exchange rates to prevail for the remainder of the year, the group would benefit modestly, relative to current market consensus, from a favourable translation of non-sterling profits into sterling,” DCC said. The processes to complete the acquisitions of Esso Retail Norway and Shell Hong Kong & Macau are progressing to plan and are expected to complete by the end of the third and fourth quarters of DCC’s financial year respectively.

Ashmore reported a 5% jump in fourth-quarter assets thanks to a positive investment performance and net inflows. Total assets under management rose to $58.7bn, with net inflows of $1.2bn and a positive investment performance of $1.6bn. The company said momentum in gross sales continued across the product range in the quarter and gross redemptions fell again on the quarter. Meanwhile, subscriptions were from a diverse range of client types, and included both new mandates and additional allocations from existing clients.

Hays saw continued growth in net fees for the quarter ended 30th June and it expects full year operating profits to be marginally ahead of market forecasts. Group net fees in its fourth quarter increased 15% on a headline basis and 7% on a like-for-like basis against the prior year- the group’s 17th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth. It said the difference between headline and like-for-like growth was primarily the result of the significant appreciation of the euro and the Australian dollar against sterling.

Workspace said it has had a very busy and successful start to the new financial year with robust demand from customers. “We have continued to expand and upgrade our property portfolio with two exciting acquisitions and the opening of a new business centre in the quarter,” said CEO Jamie Hopkins in a statement. Strong customer demand in the first quarter with enquiries averaging 1,055 per month and lettings averaging 95 per month. Two significant acquisitions in Fitzrovia, W1 and Moorgate, EC2 adding 333,000 sq. ft. of lettable space at a total cost of £257m. The Record Hall, a new 58,000 sq. ft. flagship business centre in Holborn, EC1 opened in May with 50% let or under offer by the end of June 2017.

NewRiver REIT said, looking ahead, it has significant firepower that it will deploy into accretive acquisition opportunities and its inbuilt risk-controlled development pipeline. “We believe that with our proven business model and increased scale we are well-placed to continue to deliver growing and sustainable cash returns to our shareholders,” said CEO David Lockhart. He noted a busy and successful Q1 for the company.

Oil prices dipped, pulled down by high fuel inventories and improving industry efficiency, but were still on track for a solid weekly gain.

Gold was largely unchanged as the dollar steadied ahead of key U.S. economic data, but the metal remained on course for its first weekly gain in three.

Companies Reporting this week

Day	Companies
Today:	No companies reporting

Early Market Movements

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,408.3	-5.2	-0.1%
UK 250	19,391.8	-26.5	-0.1%
GER 30	12,622.4	-19.0	-0.2%
FRA 40	5,231.0	-4.4	-0.1%
U.S. 30	21,553.09	+20.95	+0.1%
U.S. 500	2,447.8	+4.6	+0.2%
OIL (BRENT)	48.45	+0.03	+0.1%
GOLD	1,217.94	+0.36	+0.0%

UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)

Company	Price	Change	% Change
Pearson	636.5	+7.5	+1.2%
Standard Life	415.6	+4.7	+1.1%
Carillion	57.5	+2.05	+3.7%
Balfour Beatty	258.55	-6.45	-2.4%
Astrazeneca	4896.5	-116.5	-2.3%
Sky	967	-8.0	-0.8%

Latest Broker Views

Company	Broker	Recommendation	Price	Target
Aberdeen Asset Management	HSBC	Buy	315.00	350.00
ASOS	Barclays Capital	Overweight	5,751.00	6,670.00
Provident Financial	Berenberg	Hold	2,290.00	2,310.00
Standard Life	HSBC	Buy	416.00	460.00

Forthcoming Economic Data

Time/Date	Previous	Forecast	Outcome
1:30pm: U.S. CPI m/m	-0.1%	0.1%	–
1:30pm: U.S.Core CPI m/m	0.1%	0.2%	–
1:30pm: U.S.Retail Sales m/m	-0.3%	0.1%	–
2:15pm: U.S Capacity Utilization Rate	76.6%	76.7%	–