Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian stock markets were mostly higher as investors awaited the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision due later in the day. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks closed higher, erasing slight losses from earlier in the session, as U.S. lawmakers reached a deal that would resume government operations. |
Today's News
Donald Trump signed a bill reopening the US government, the White House said late Monday, after Democrats and Republicans agreed to end a three-day partial shutdown. The US Senate voted to pass a spending bill that will keep the government running through February 8. The bill was later approved by the House of Representatives 266-155 and sent to Trump for his signature.
The US has approved controversial tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels. The move is in line with President Trump’s “America First” trade policy, which aims to protect local manufacturers from foreign competition. Chinese solar panel makers and washing machine producers in South Korea will be most heavily affected. Both countries have criticised the tariffs, which President Trump has talked about since coming to office.
easyJet said it has had a strong start to its financial year as increased passenger numbers and in flight sales drive revenue growth. Revenue for the carrier’s first quarter, which ended on December 31, rose by over 14% to £1.14bn, reflecting an 8.0% increase in passenger numbers year-on-year to 18.8 million, driven by seat capacity growth of 5.5%. Revenue per seat, a key industry indicator, rose 6.6% at constant currency rates, the company said.
Netflix membership surged past 117 million last year, a rise the company said showed its investment in original programming was paying off. The streaming juggernaut added a record 8.3 million subscribers in the three months to December, with 6.36 million of those outside the US. However, it wrote off $39m for “unreleased content” understood to feature disgraced actor Kevin Spacey.
Pets at Home reported a rise in third-quarter sales as it said final guidance was unchanged. In the 12-week period to 4 January 2018, group revenue grew 9.6% to 223.3m, with group like-for-like revenue up 7.2%.
Sky has noted a provisional finding by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that a proposed acquisition of the television broadcaster by 21st Century Fox could be against the public interest on media plurality grounds. Sky confirmed that the CMA had found the transaction was not likely to operate against the public interest on broadcasting standards grounds. The deadline for a final report to the UK’s Secretary of State is now May 1.
IG said regulatory changes will make it difficult to predict the level of revenue in the short-term after reporting record first half revenue and pre-tax profit. Revenue is up 10% to £268.4m and pre-tax profit up 29% to £136.2m. Describing new leverage restrictions as disproportionate, the spread betting provider says the financial impact of the mooted ban on binary options and restrictions on CFDs ‘is unlikely to be significant in the current financial year’.
National Grid said it was “very disappointed” by the UK energy regulator Ofgem’s costing and pricing model for the Hinkley-Seabank transmission project. The project is intended to allow for the safe connection of the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to the grid. “National Grid is very disappointed with the proxy competition proposal, which includes financial parameters proposed for the delivery of this complex and major infrastructure project,” the company said
Paragon Banking Group said it boosted total new lending and investment volumes by 24% in its fiscal first quarter to £469.8m. Mortgage volumes grew by 84% to £198.8m, while commercial lending volumes grew by 21% to £85.5m “We have made excellent progress during the first quarter,” chief executive Nigel Terrington said. “The lending growth achieved across the group has been outstanding and reflects the increasing strength of the franchise.”
Manchester United have topped the table of the world’s 20 richest football clubs for the second year in a row, and 10th time overall, says Deloitte. Its Football Money League, based on season 2016-17, also shows the combined revenues of the 20 clubs has risen 6% to €7.9bn (£6.97bn), a new record.
Marston’s said that it took a hit from the snowy and icy weather in early December and between Christmas and New Year, although its pubs saw record sales on Christmas day. In a trading update for the 16 weeks to 20 January, the pub group said total sales in destination and premium were up 4.9%, reflecting the contribution from the estate expansion last year. Like-for-like sales excluding the impact of the snow-affected weeks were up 1.1%. The weather impact on LFL sales was around 2% and on an adjusted basis LFL sales were down 0.9%, with Marston’s estimating a profit impact of £1m.
Gold edged up as the dollar hovered around three-year lows, with a surge in global equities capping further gains after a U.S. government shutdown came to a halt.
Oil Prices rose, lifted by healthy economic growth as well as the ongoing supply restraint by a group of exporters around OPEC and Russia.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Tuesday: |
IG Group Holdings |
Wednesday: |
Crest Nicholson Holdings |
Thursday: |
Diageo * Renishaw * Sky |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,727.7 |
+12.2 |
+0.2% |
UK 250 |
20,690.1 |
+34.9 |
+0.2% |
GER 30 |
13,577.1 |
+113.4 |
+0.8% |
FRA 40 |
5,564.0 |
+22.0 |
+0.4% |
U.S. 30 |
26,214.60 |
+142.88 |
+0.6% |
U.S. 500 |
2,833.0 |
+22.7 |
+0.8% |
OIL (BRENT) |
69.38 |
+0.35 |
+0.5% |
GOLD |
1,336.80 |
+2.88 |
+0.2% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Easyjet |
1650.5 |
+87 |
+5.6% |
Pets at Home |
191.3 |
+9.3 |
+5.1% |
NMC Health |
3502 |
+142 |
+4.2% |
National Grid |
804.6 |
-23.4 |
-2.8% |
WPP |
1321 |
-37.5 |
-2.8% |
Just Group |
147.8 |
-10.5 |
-6.6% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
BHP Billiton |
JPMorgan |
Neutral |
1593 |
1590 |
Croda |
Berenberg |
Buy |
4469 |
5000 |
Diageo |
Goldman Sachs |
Neutral |
2592 |
2490 |
Pearson |
Deutsche Bank |
Sell |
691.6 |
525 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
10:30am: U.K. Public Sector Net Borrowing |
8.1bn |
4.2bn |
– |
11:00am: German ZEW Economic Sentiment |
17.4 |
17.8 |
– |
Sources
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/asian-markets-mostly-higher-20180122-01277
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/us-stocks-government-shutdown.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-rises-on-imf-economic-growth-outlook-opec-russian-supply-curbs-idUSKBN1FC060
https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-rises-on-wobbly-dollar-stocks-surge-after-u-s-govt-shutdown-ends-idUKL4N1PI1HJ
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1516691839968555200.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1516688676968362800.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/marstons-to-take-hit-from-snowy-weather-but-christmas-day-sees-record-sales–3089677.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/pets-at-home-third-quarter-revenue-rises-final-guidance-unchanged–3089660.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5825985/Paragon-Banking-lending-volumes-up-24pct.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5825998/National-Grid-very-disappointed-with-Ofgem-Hinkley-consultation.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5825968/IG-says-new-regulations-disproportionate-as-reports-record-first-half-profit.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5825991/Sky-notes-regulator-concerns-about-bid-by-21st-Century-Fox.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42784380
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42779953
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42767374