Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian share were higher, lifted by encouraging employment data from the U.S. that took the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to its third straight weekly gain on Friday despite weakness earlier in the week. |
U.S. Markets
Wall Street indexes gained as U.S. employers added more jobs than expected in November, cementing the case for an interest rate hike next week and adding to optimism about the economy heading into 2018. |
Today's News
Theresa May is taking an upbeat stance on securing a Brexit deal, as Ireland insists the UK must stick to its commitments on keeping a soft border with the Republic. The prime minister is using an address to the Commons on Monday to stress that while a new air of optimism on a final settlement has emerged, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The comments come after Dublin expressed concern that Brexit Secretary David Davis insisted the last minute deal agreed on Friday to allow trade talks to start was “a statement of intent” rather than legally enforceable.
Babcock said the adoption of new accounting rule IFRS 15 would not require a change in contract revenue or profit recognition. IFRS takes effect on January 1, 2018. It “identifies performance obligations in contracts with customers, allocates the transaction price to the performance obligations and recognises revenue as performance obligations are satisfied”, Babcock said. The standard requires revenue recognition either “over time” or at a “point in time” and additionally requires more detailed disclosures.
Investec said it has “immaterial exposure” to South African retail giant Steinhoff International, which caused alarm for its lenders after its shares fell 80% last week, though though some derivatives exposure could put a dent in profits. Investec explained that it does have credit exposures to the Steinhoff Group but that this is mostly to Steinhoff Africa and represents less than 3.0% of South Africa subsidiary Investec Bank’s total tier-one capital and so less than 1.5% of the Investec Plc’s capital. Steinhoff, the retail giant listed in Frankfurt and Johannesburg, saw its shares lost most of their value last week after revealing it was investigating accounting irregularities
BAE Systems and the government of Qatar have entered into a contract, valued at approximately £5bn, for the supply of Typhoon aircraft to the Qatar Emiri Air Force along with a bespoke support and training package. The contract is subject to financing conditions and receipt by the company of first payment, which are expected to be fulfilled no later than mid-2018. The contract provides for 24 Typhoon aircraft with delivery expected to commence in late 2022.
The Scottish Investment Trust said its net asset value in the year through October increased by 11%. The trust, which invests in equities such as Nintendo and Shell, declared a final dividend of 14.5p per share, bringing the total regular dividend for the year up 48.1% to 20.0p. It also declared a special dividend of 5.0p per share.
Gold hovered above a four-month low and were on track for their biggest weekly fall since May after progress on U.S. tax reform fueled optimism about the U.S. economy and boosted the dollar.
Oil Prices fell as last week’s rise in the U.S. rig count pointed to a further increase in American production that could undermine OPEC-led efforts to tighten markets.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Tomorrow: |
Ashtead Group |
Wednesday: |
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) * Dixons Carphone * Purplebricks Group |
Thursday: |
Sports Direct International |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,430.9 |
+37.0 |
+0.5% |
UK 250 |
20,026.9 |
+34.3 |
+0.2% |
GER 30 |
13,185.2 |
+31.5 |
+0.2% |
FRA 40 |
5,410.0 |
+11.0 |
+0.2% |
U.S. 30 |
24,329.16 |
+117.68 |
+0.5% |
U.S. 500 |
2,651.5 |
+14.5 |
+0.6% |
OIL (BRENT) |
63.40 |
+0.00 |
+0.0% |
GOLD |
1,249.12 |
+0.63 |
+0.1% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Hochschild |
228.5 |
+6.6 |
+3.0% |
HSBC Holdings |
747.3 |
+14.1 |
+1.9% |
Shire |
3707 |
+59 |
+1.6% |
Talk Talk |
151.05 |
-3.45 |
-2.2% |
Whitbread |
3926 |
-68 |
-1.7% |
Mediclinic |
586.5 |
-8.5 |
-1.4% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
National Grid |
RBC Capital |
Sector Perform |
880.2 |
950 |
Ferguson |
HSBC |
Buy |
5345 |
6600 |
BAE Systems |
Goldman Sachs |
Conviction Buy |
565.5 |
774 |
Glencore |
Goldman Sachs |
Conviction Buy |
344.9 |
450 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
4:00pm: U.S. JOLTS Job Openings |
6.09m |
6.03m |
– |
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks/us-stocks-wall-street-gains-on-robust-nov-hiring-data-idUSL3N1O84PF
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/asian-shares-advance-encouraging-us-jobs-report-51710513
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/centrica-launches-spirit-energy-ep-joint-venture–3020543.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/babcock-says-ifrs-15-will-not-need-change-in-contract-revenue-profit-recognition–3020701.html
http://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/investec-admits-steinhoff-exposure-could-make-small-dent-in-profits–3020552.html
http://www.digitallook.com/news/market-overview/iq-option-launches-trading-in-cryptocurrencies-and-cfds–2837377.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5775696/BAE-clinches-Qatar-aircraft-deal.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5775672/Scottish-Investment-Trust-hikes-dividend.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1512974567549483300.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-prices-drop-on-increased-u-s-drilling-activity-idUSKBN1E501P
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-dollar-rise-pushes-gold-toward-biggest-weekly-fall-since-may-idUSL8N1O82IC