Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian stock markets were mostly higher as investors brushed off worries about the U.S. political uncertainty while waiting for the upcoming speeches by the world’s top central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks closed lower as investors grappled with a threat from President Donald Trump to shut down the government if funds are not secured to build a Mexico border wall. |
Today's News
CRH said its interim results were in line with guidance as it posted growth in both revenue and earnings in the first half of 2017 and revealed a huge divestment in the Americas and a smaller acquisition in Europe. The Dublin-based group of building materials businesses said revenue in the first half of 2017 rose 2% year-on-year to EUR12.99 billion from EUR12.69 billion, and climbed 1% on a like-for-like basis, while its margin improved 20 basis points to 9.0% from 8.8%.
Dixons Carphone warned that profits for the full year will be well short of expectation due to a new business model of its sales software, while also saying the UK mobile phone was proving “more challenging”. Profits at the retailer are being hit as its Connected World Services arm moves towards selling its Honeybee sales software product on a software-as-a-service basis, which will see no repeat of the sorts of large up-front contracts in previous years, though the troubles of the mobile phone business are not expected to dent overall profit in core retail operations due to good progress in UK & Ireland, Nordic and Greek electrical businesses.
The number of cars built in the UK last month rose by almost 8% compared with July 2016, new figures show. Just over 136,000 vehicles were made in British factories, up 7.8% on July last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Many carmakers increase production in July ahead of new models going on sale in September and summer shutdowns. However, the number of cars made in the UK in the first seven months of the year fell 1.6% to about one million. Almost four out of five cars that roll off British production lines are exported.
OneSavings Bank hiked its interim dividend by over one-fifth after reported solid underlying profit growth in the first half of 2017, but said reported profit declined due to the lack of a large gain booked from a disposal last year. The mid-cap specialist lender offering residential, buy to let and commercial mortgages, secured loans and development finance said total income in the first six months of the year edged up to £110.8m from £96.5m the year before.
Greencore Group said its board had noted the recent weakness in the company’s share price and was not aware of any developments since the release of its third quarter trading statement on 27 July that changed the outlook it contained. It said that as outlined in that statement, the integration of the US business was on track and the group continued to be encouraged by the pipeline of commercial opportunities being explored with existing and new customers. The group said it noted there had been some level of churn in the legacy retail part of the US business.
John Laing Group’s net asset value per share rose to 284p in the six months to the end of June – up from 277p at the end of December and 263p a year ago. Net asset value increased to £1,040.4m – up from £1,016.8m at the end of December and £963.7m a year ago. Pre-tax profits fell to £36.6m – down from £108.3m a year ago. The board has declared a dividend of 1.91p per share – up from 1.85p last time.
Premier Oil has raised its 2017 production forecast by up to 7 percent on the back of a forecast-beating performance at its fields that also improved its cash flow and helped it pay down debt. The producer lifted its full-year production guidance to 75,000-80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up from 75,000 previously.
Oil prices were steady, holding gains from the previous session after another fall in U.S. crude inventories indicated a tighter market,
Gold prices edged up, supported by jitters over political uncertainty in the United States ahead of a major central banking conference this week.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Today: |
Avocet Mining * Camellia * CRH * Hunting * John Laing Group * Macfarlane Group * OneSavings Bank * Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) * Playtech * Premier Oil * Sportech |
Tomorrow: |
Henry Boot * ITM Power |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,404.8 |
+22.2 |
+0.3% |
UK 250 |
19,703.4 |
-39.8 |
-0.2% |
GER 30 |
12,195.2 |
+20.9 |
+0.2% |
FRA 40 |
5,133.3 |
+18.0 |
+0.4% |
U.S. 30 |
21,812.09 |
-87.80 |
-0.4% |
U.S. 500 |
2,444.0 |
-8.5 |
-0.4% |
OIL (BRENT) |
52.59 |
+0.02 |
+0.0% |
GOLD |
1,286.28 |
-4.68 |
-0.4% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Hunting |
434.7 |
+17 |
+4.1% |
CRH |
2784 |
+94 |
+3.5% |
Provident Financial |
681 |
+20 |
+3% |
Dixons Carphone |
178.8 |
-56.5 |
-24% |
Easyjet |
1240 |
-30 |
-2.4% |
G4S |
291.7 |
-2.3 |
-0.8% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Persimmon |
UBS |
Buy |
2604 |
2950 |
WPP |
UBS |
Buy |
1423 |
1900 |
Onesavings Bank |
RBC Capital |
Outperform |
392.55 |
470 |
Intercontinental Hotels Group |
Goldman Sachs |
Neutral |
3864 |
4193 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
9:30am: Second Estimate GDP q/q |
0.3% |
0.3% |
– |
9:30am: U.K. Prelim Business Investment q/q |
0.6% |
0.2% |
– |
1:30pm: U.S. Unemployment Claims |
232k |
237k |
– |
Sources
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/us-stocks-snapshotwall-st-falls-after-trump-shutdown-threat-20170823-00901
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-stock-indexes-hit-wall-142552025.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1503558304345516100.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1503557289315483600.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5638971/Greencore-baffled-by-share-price-weakness.html
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-premier-oil-results-idUKKCN1B40GX
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5638987/John-Laing-net-asset-value-up.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/dixons-carphone-issues-profit-warning-as-mobile-market-challenges-worsen–2827291.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41029474
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/oil-steady-on-falling-crude-inventories-but-rising-output-weighs.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/gold-inches-down-investors-shift-focus-to-jackson-hole-summit.html