Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Equity markets struggled to find direction in Asia as the second half of the year kicked off, tracking mixed signals from U.S. markets. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. financial markets will close at 1pm Monday and completely shut down on Tuesday in observance of July Fourth. Other global markets will operate on a normal schedule, however, trading volumes are expected to be lower. |
Today's News
SuperGroup has improved its FY pretax profit to £84.8m, up from £55.4m, with revenue improving to £752.0m, from £597.5m. Total dividend for the year was 28p a share, up 20.7%. “SuperGroup has made further significant progress this year, delivering growth in sales, profit and the ordinary dividend as we maintained momentum against all elements of our strategy,” it said. “Our focus on delivering long-term sustainable growth continues, through a multi-channel approach that balances a disciplined owned and franchised store opening programme with further development of our re-engineered Wholesale channel and strong E-commerce proposition,” the company added. SuperGroup was globally diversified and financially strong and remained confident in its strategy to further embed Superdry’s position as a global lifestyle brand.
Inland Homes has sold its 50% interest in Aston Clinton, a green field site in Aylesbury for £11m and signed an option agreement for a 13 acre development site in Braintree, Essex. Inland Homes said that together with its 50% joint venture partner Europa Capital, it completed the sale of its site in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire for a total sum of £22m with the group’s share being £11 million. Inland Homes recently achieved a resolution to grant planning consent for 400 residential units and 105,000 sq ft of retail, leisure and commercial space on the Greenfield site.
Severn Trent has confirmed the the sale of its North American business (Operating Services, US) to US investors PPC Enterprises LLC and Alston Capital Partners LLC. The sale valued the business at $62m. Proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes. Severn Trent’s North American business operated and managed water and wastewater systems, and provided management services to municipalities and local communities. It operated in all aspects of the water and wastewater process including treatment, networks and customer service.
AstraZeneca confirmed the completion of two major transactions on, bringing in almost half a billion dollars for the drugmaker in the current financial year. The company said it had completed the agreement with Recordati for the commercial rights to Seloken in Europe, with an upfront payment of $290m to be recorded in the second quarter of 2017.
BAE Systems has signed a £3.7bn contract to build the first three ships in a new fleet of Navy frigates. Work on the Type 26 global combat ships will start at BAE’s yards at Govan, Glasgow, this summer. It will secure 1,700 jobs in Scotland and a further 1,700 in the supply chain across the UK, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. A total of eight ships are to be built in the fleet, with the contract for the second batch of five ships to be negotiated in the early 2020s. Plans to build the new frigates were set out in the Government’s 2015 strategic defence and security review, although the project has been scaled back from earlier proposals to construct 13 ships.
China’s manufacturing activity recovered in June with firms reporting slightly stronger increases in production and new orders. The Caixin Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.4 in June from 49.6 in May, survey results from IHS Markit showed Monday. The reading was expected to fall to 49.8. A score above 50 indicates expansion. Although only marginal, new orders increased at the fastest pace in three months. As a result, production rose at a slightly faster rate in June. Job creation decreased further in June. That said, the rate of job shedding eased to a modest pace that was the weakest since March. After a decline in May, purchasing activity increased slightly at the end of the second quarter. However, companies adopted relatively cautious attitudes towards their inventories. Input costs as well as output charges increased at the end of the second quarter. That said, the rates of inflation were much slower than seen at the beginning of the year.
A price cap on energy bills could be extended to many more households on low incomes, under plans being considered by regulator Ofgem. A limit on the cost of gas and electricity for those on pre-payment meters already saves about four million people £80 a year. This could be extended to about two million others on certain benefits. The proposals come after a much wider cap in the Conservative manifesto was absent from the Queen’s Speech. Instead, the government said ministers were “considering the best way” to protect those on the poorest-value tariffs. Business Secretary Greg Clark wrote to Ofgem to challenge the regulator to use its existing powers to reduce bills.
Oil prices rose, lifted by the first fall in U.S. drilling activity in months, although gains were capped by reports of rising OPEC output last month even as the group has pledged to cut supply.
Gold held steady, ahead of the U.S. Independence day holiday, as the dollar hovered at near nine-month lows hit last week on signs of monetary tightening by global central banks.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Today: |
* Supergroup * |
Tuesday: |
St. Modwen Properties * Sainsbury (J) * |
Wednesday: |
Ocado Group * SIG * Topps Tiles * Booker Group * Persimmon * McCarthy & Stone |
Thursday: |
* Ferrexpo * Bovis Homes Group * Associated British Foods * |
Friday: |
Dunelm Group * |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,339.0 |
+26.3 |
+0.4% |
UK 250 |
19,399.8 |
+59.6 |
+0.3% |
GER 30 |
12,399.7 |
+74.6 |
+0.6% |
FRA 40 |
5,160.4 |
+39.8 |
+0.8% |
U.S. 30 |
21,349.63 |
+62.60 |
+0.3% |
U.S. 500 |
2,423.4 |
+3.7 |
+0.2% |
OIL (BRENT) |
48.98 |
+0.21 |
+0.4% |
GOLD |
1,236.50 |
-5.11 |
-0.4% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Electrocomponents |
591.5 |
+14.5 |
+2.5% |
HSBC Holdings |
724.8 |
+13.1 |
+1.8% |
Anglo American |
1040 |
+16 |
+1.6% |
Sirius Minerals |
29.615 |
-0.725 |
-2.4% |
Severn Trent |
2144 |
-38 |
-1.7% |
Randgold Resources |
6690 |
-115 |
-1.7% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Dixons Carphone |
Credit Suisse |
Outperform |
296.50 |
400.00 |
Provident Financial |
Liberum Capital |
Sell |
2,514.00 |
2,000.00 |
Sirius Minerals |
Liberum Capital |
Buy |
28.50 |
60.00 |
Wolseley |
Berenberg |
Buy |
4,507.00 |
5,800.00 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
9:30am: U.K. Manufacturing PMI |
56.7 |
56.4 |
– |
10:00am: European Unemployment Rate |
9.3% |
9.3% |
– |
3:00pm: U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI |
54.9 |
55.0 |
– |
Sources
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-as-china-hong-kong-bond-trading-link-opens-2017-07-02
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/july-4th-which-markets-are-closed-2017-06-30
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5578095/SuperGroup-improves-FY-pretax-profit.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5578044/Inland-sells-interest-in-JV-for-pound11m.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5578039/Severn-Trent-sells-North-American-business.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/astrazeneca-adds-nearly-05bn-to-books-as-two-deals-go-through–2751289.html
http://www.insider.co.uk/news/bae-systems-signs-37bn-contract-10725726
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1499060214218922900.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40476691
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN19O044
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL3N1JU07A