Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian share indexes advanced, guided by Wall Street gains and healthy quarterly economic data from Japan. |
U.S. Markets
The three major U.S. indexes rose with stocks of technology companies leading the pack, followed by industrials. |
Today's News
Sufficient progress has been made in Brexit talks, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said, paving the way for talks on the future UK-EU relationship. Theresa May arrived in Brussels on Friday morning following overnight talks on the issue of the Irish border. The PM said there would be no hard border and the Good Friday Agreement would be upheld. EU citizens in the UK “will be able to go on living as before”. The DUP said there was still “more work to be done” and how it votes on the final deal “will depend on its contents”. Speaking at an early morning press conference in Brussels, Mr Juncker said: “Today’s result is of course a compromise.”
Berkeley Group posts strong first half results with pre-tax profits up 35.8% at of £533.3m. The group has increased its five year pre-tax profit guidance starting 1 May 2016 to £3.3bn from £3.0bn. Revenues of £1,607.7m for the six months to the end of October were up by 13.7% from a year ago. Berkeley’s objective is to be London’s leading place-maker, balancing strong operational performance with a desire to produce homes of a high quality in fantastic places for all Londoners, playing a key role in delivering the 300,000 new homes this country needs each year.
International Airlines Group said British Airways will close its main defined benefit scheme to new members and will launch a new defined contribution pension scheme. IAG, which also owns the likes of Vueling, Iberia and Aer Lingus, said that following consultation with its trade unions and employees, British Airways has decided to launch a flexible benefits scheme incorporating a new defined contribution pension scheme. The scheme will open on April 1, 2018 and will replace the airline’s current main UK defined benefit scheme, the New Airways Pension Scheme, and its main UK defined contribution scheme, the British Airways Retirement Plan.
John Laing Group said total investments this year will be well ahead of guidance as it capitalises on a strong pipeline across all three of its main target regions, while realisations in 2017 will also be higher than envisaged. The infrastructure investor and development firm, releasing a pre-close trading update for the year to the end of 2017, said it expects the total amount to be invested this year to be about £340m, while realisations will amount to £256m.
Vodafone Group said it has decided to terminate the planned merger of its Malta operations with Melita Ltd after difficulties obtaining regulatory approval. Despite “extensive” cooperation with the Maltese Competition Authority, Vodafone said it has become clear the deal would not satisfy the regulator’s requirement and consequently the merger has been terminated. In May, Vodafone announced it had signed a deal with Apax Partners Midmarket SAS and Fortino Capital to combine its subsidiary Vodafone Malta Ltd with Melita, a cable, broadband, and pay television provider whose network covers 99% of Maltese households.
China’s exports expanded much faster than expected in November but the annual increase in imports outpaced export growth, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Friday. In dollar terms, exports advanced 12% year-over-year in November, well above the 5.9% rise economists had forecast. Similarly, imports surged 18% in November from a year ago, faster than the expected growth of 13%. As a result, the trade surplus totalled $40.2bn in November. The surplus was forecast to fall to $35.0bn from about $38.2bn in October.
Sports Direct and Primark are among a list of companies that have been named and shamed for paying staff less than the minimum wage, with the government dishing out £1.3m of fines and ordering £1.7m to be paid to 16,000 underpaid workers. Fines were imposed on 260 firms for cheating the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial strategy said on Friday.
Gold edged up in Asian trade as investors resorted to bargain hunting after the yellow metal dropped below its recent trading range to hit the lowest in more than four months overnight.
Oil Prices dipped, weighed down by a strengthening U.S. dollar, although China’s relentless thirst for crude and OPEC-led supply cuts prevented further falls.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Today: |
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,315.9 |
-4.9 |
-0.1% |
UK 250 |
19,851.4 |
+41.1 |
+0.2% |
GER 30 |
13,147.7 |
+102.6 |
+0.8% |
FRA 40 |
5,414.7 |
+30.9 |
+0.6% |
U.S. 30 |
24,211.48 |
+70.57 |
+0.3% |
U.S. 500 |
2,637.0 |
+7.7 |
+0.3% |
OIL (BRENT) |
62.31 |
+0.11 |
+0.2% |
GOLD |
1,249.03 |
+1.81 |
+0.2% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Berkeley Group |
4057 |
+211 |
+5.5% |
Lloyds |
66.46 |
+1.95 |
+3.0% |
Restaurant Group |
286.25 |
+11.35 |
+4.1% |
Halma |
1240.5 |
-33.5 |
-2.6% |
Mediclinic |
580.5 |
-10 |
-1.7% |
Inchcape |
748 |
-12.5 |
-1.6% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Hammerson |
Goldman Sachs |
Buy |
519.5 |
625 |
BT Group |
Barclays |
Overweight |
262.3 |
350 |
BP |
JPMorgan |
Overweight |
484 |
550 |
Fresnillo |
Goldman Sachs |
Neutral |
1280 |
1150 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
10:30am: U.K. Manufacturing Production m/m |
0.7% |
0.1% |
– |
10:30am: U.K. Goods Trade Balance |
-11.3bn |
-11.5bn |
– |
2:30pm: U.S. Average Hourly Earnings m/m |
0.0% |
0.3% |
– |
2:30pm: U.S. Non-Farm Employment Change |
261k |
198k |
– |
2:30pm: U.S. Unemployment Rate |
4.1% |
4.1% |
– |
Sources
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/asian-stocks-rise-after-wall-street-posts-gains-1.3712650
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks/us-stocks-technology-stocks-lead-wall-streets-rise-idUSL3N1O74I1
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1512718697417975400.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1512718696057974800.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1512718155717949100.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1512715264187723800.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5773924/Berkeley-raises-five-year-guidance-after-strong-H1.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/sports-direct-and-primark-named-and-shamed-for-underpaying-staff–3017290.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42277040
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-dips-on-stronger-dollar-but-strong-chinese-demand-underpins-idUSKBN1E206O?il=0
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-rises-on-bargain-hunting-after-hitting-over-4-mth-low-idUSL3N1O816N