Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Stocks continued to struggle for direction amid slow late-summer trading, as investors paused following strong gains this year and ahead of the U.S. employment report due later Friday. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks whipsawed on the back of a report that the Russia investigation is intensifying and that a Grand Jury has been assembled. |
Today's News
RBS has returned to profit in the first-half of the year, despite a big one-off charge due to a US legal case. It made a profit of £939m in the first six months of the year, a big turnaround from the £2bn loss in the same period of 2016. The bank incurred legal costs of £396m, largely related to a settlement over mis-sold US mortgage products.
Donald Trump called accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election a “total fabrication,” as local media reported that the special counsel leading a probe into the matter had issued grand jury subpoenas. “The Russia story is a total fabrication, it’s just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics,” Trump said at an evening rally in Huntington, West Virginia. “It just makes them feel better when they have nothing else to talk about.” US media outlets, meanwhile, reported that special counsel Robert Mueller had issued grand jury subpoenas, a method by which prosecutors obtain documents or compel witnesses to give evidence in potential criminal cases.
Paysafe has recommended shareholders accept private equity groups Blackstone and CVC’s £2.96bn cash offer, which would see investors in the online and mobile payments specialist receive 590p per share. The group’s directors said that including their own stakes and irrevocable pledges from institutional funds, they had calculated 12.2% shareholder support for the deal so far.
easyJet said it carried more passengers in July compared to a year earlier and increased its load factor year-on-year. easyJet said it carried 8.2 million passengers in July, up 8.9% from 7.5 million a year before. On a 12 month rolling basis, passengers were up 8.9% to 78.8 million compared to 72.3 million. Load factor also improved in July, up 1.1 percentage points to 96.8%, from 95.8% a year ago
Pearson said that it was slashing its interim dividend by 72% as it kicked off a restructuring programme that will involve cutting 3,000 jobs. Meanwhile, adjusted operating profit came in at £107m from £15m in the first half of 2016, reflecting savings from the 2016 restructuring programme.
Merlin Entertainments said revenue grew by 19.4%, reflecting a strong contribution from new accommodation and attractions, and continued like for like revenue growth. CEO Nick Varney said: “We have delivered revenue growth of 9.6% in the first half of 2017 as we continue to execute against our six strategic growth drivers.
Hargreaves Lansdown said it will not pay a special dividend for its recent financial year, after being informed that regulators intend to reassess its regulatory capital requirements. Hargreaves Lansdown said the UK Financial Conduct Authority will conduct the reassessment due to the company’s “strong recent growth in scale and complexity”. Hargreaves Lansdown has concluded it needs to retain an additional £50m in capital and therefore will not pay a special dividend for its financial year ended June 30. However, the company will maintain its ordinary dividend policy of a 65% payout ratio.
Oil prices declined, extending Thursday’s pullback in the U.S., as producers there show no sign of slowing output into 2018
Gold prices steadied, hovering below Tuesday’s seven-week high, as investors awaited U.S. jobs data for further clues on the outlook for interest rates.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Today: |
Merlin Entertainments * RBS * Pearson * Millennium & Copthorne Hotels |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7467.0 |
-7.7 |
-0.1% |
UK 250 |
19,850.9 |
-57.4 |
-0.3% |
GER 30 |
12,143.8 |
-11.0 |
-0.1% |
FRA 40 |
5,122.4 |
-8.1 |
-0.2% |
U.S. 30 |
22,026.10 |
+9.86 |
+0.0% |
U.S. 500 |
2,472.2 |
-5.4 |
-0.2% |
OIL (BRENT) |
51.92 |
-0.09 |
-0.2% |
GOLD |
1,269.30 |
+0.70 |
+0.1% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Acacia Mining |
186.8 |
+7 |
+3.9% |
Royal Bank of Scotland |
265.1 |
+8.9 |
+3.5% |
Pearson |
691 |
+22 |
+3.3% |
Hargreaves Lansdown |
1302 |
-81 |
-5.9% |
Convatec |
279.7 |
-9.6 |
-3.3% |
CLS Holdings |
204.5 |
-5.2 |
-2.5% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Cobham |
Deutsche Bank |
Hold |
144.05 |
115 |
Next |
Goldman Sachs |
Neutral |
4358 |
4325 |
Randgold Resources |
Credit Suisse |
Neutral |
7275 |
7160 |
Shire |
HSBC |
Hold |
4126.5 |
4480 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
1:30pm: U.S. Non-Farm Employment Change |
222k |
182k |
– |
1:30pm: U.S. Unemployment Rate |
4.4% |
4.3% |
– |
Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/03/us-stocks-dow-22000-earnings.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-as-investors-await-us-job-report-2017-08-03
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5614717/easyJet-passenger-figures-up.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/paysafe-recommends-private-equity-590p-cash-offer–2802766.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40823577
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/pearson-slashes-interim-dividend-by-72-to-cut-3000-jobs–2802758.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5614952/Merlin-Entertainments-revenue-rises.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1501829732326064200.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1501825636675786500.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-oil-loses-grip-of-49-a-barrel-ahead-of-us-rig-data-2017-08-04
https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUKL5N1KP5R5