Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian shares were moving sideways following the lacklustre cues overnight from Wall Street and the slight gain in crude oil prices off ten-month lows. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. shares reversed direction to close mostly lower as weak financials and consumer staples shares eclipsed a rally in the health-care and biotechnology sectors. |
Today's News
Rio Tinto said it has reduced its debt by a further $2.5bn through a series of bond tender and redemption exercises launched in May. This means that, since the start of 2016, the London-listed miner has reduced the nominal value of its outstanding bonds from around $21bn to about $9.5bn. It expects the early redemption costs to reduce underlying earnings by around $180m and its cash flow from operating activities by around $260m in the first half of 2017, but expects these reductions to be offset by savings in future periods.
European Union citizens living in Britain will be allowed to stay after the country’s exit from the bloc, UK Prime Minister Theresa May told EU leaders, according to a senior British official. May laid out the British proposal during a two-day EU summit that comes after negotiators for the EU and Britain met on Monday for their first formal talks in the two-year Brexit process. Negotiators aim to reach an agreement over issues such as citizens’ rights, the status of the Irish border and settling Britain’s financial contributions to the EU over the coming months in order to ensure a smooth transition.
British households perceived that the value of their home increased in June, albeit at a slower rate than in the previous month, survey figures from IHS Markit and Knight Frank showed. The Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment Index, or HPSI, declined to 53.3 in June. Any figure over 50 indicates that prices are rising. However, while it remains in positive territory, the index has been steadily ticking down for the last three months which suggests that the perceived rate of house price growth is slowing. On a regional basis, households in the South East reported the biggest rise in June, followed by the these in the East of England and London. The future HPSI, a measure of expectations on house prices dropped to 61.3 in June from 64.5 in May.
Workspace Group said it will buy a Grade II listed property in the City of London for £158.7m. Salisbury House in Finsbury Circus is near to the new Crossrail station at Moorgate and also to both Liverpool Street and Bank tube stations. It is on a long leasehold from City of London Corp and generated net rental income of GBP8.1 million over the last 12 months. The multi-let Edwardian property with 240,000 square feet of lettable space is currently 90% occupied with 105 tenants. The company said it is being bought at a capital value of £661.1 per square feet, a low average passing rent of £41.50 per square feet at a net initial yield of 5%. Workspace will fund the acquisition from existing resources, including an additional £100.0m worth of five-year revolving credit facilities provided by its bank lending syndicate.
The Irish government has priced its initial public offering of Allied Irish Banks, ahead of the bank’s admission to the Irish and London stock exchanges next week, setting it to raise around €3bn in the flotation. Ireland’s Minister for Finance Michael Noonan detailed plans to sell around 25% of Allied Irish Banks at the end of May, at that time citing the government’s policy to exiting banking investments and returning ownership to the price sector. Noonan said then that the bank’s strong progress meant it was not the “right time” to begin that process. The pricing of the offer has been set at $4.40, meaning the initial public offering of 678.6 million shares will be worth around €2.99bn. The company will not issue any shares as part of the IPO and so will not receive any proceeds from the offer.
Oil prices edged up, recovering some of the steep falls earlier in the week, but crude is still set for the worst first-half decline in two decades despite ongoing production cuts.
Gold prices edged higher as the dollar softened and risk aversion due to geopolitical events buoyed the safe-haven appeal of the metal.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Today: |
No Companys Reporting |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,405.9 |
-33.4 |
-0.5% |
UK 250 |
19,622.7 |
-35.8 |
-0.2% |
GER 30 |
12,765.0 |
-29.0 |
-0.2% |
FRA 40 |
5,273.7 |
-8.2 |
-0.2% |
U.S. 30 |
21,397.29 |
-12.74 |
-0.1% |
U.S. 500 |
2,434.5 |
-1.1 |
-0.1% |
OIL (BRENT) |
45.31 |
+0.09 |
+0.2% |
GOLD |
1,253.66 |
+3.15 |
+0.3% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Carillion |
199.95 |
+6.75 |
+3.5% |
ITV |
181 |
+4.1 |
+2.3% |
3I Group |
908.5 |
+8.5 |
+0.9% |
Domino’s Pizza |
266.3 |
-24.4 |
-8.4% |
Shire |
4539.5 |
-86.5 |
-1.9% |
Mediclinic |
762 |
-12.5 |
-1.6% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Direct Line Insurance Group |
Deutsche Bank |
Buy |
351.00 |
390.00 |
Go-Ahead Group |
Liberum Capital |
Buy |
1,790.50 |
1,975.00 |
National Grid |
Deutsche Bank |
Sell |
1,005.50 |
950.00 |
SSE |
Deutsche Bank |
Sell |
1,488.50 |
1,300.00 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
9:00am: European Flash Manufacturing PMI |
57.0 |
56.9 |
– |
2:45pm: U.S. Flash Manufacturing PMI |
52.7 |
53.1 |
– |
3:00pm: U.S. New Home Sales |
569k |
599k |
– |
Sources
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/asian-markets-flat-amid-cautious-trades-20170622-01274
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-face-a-struggle-to-pull-out-of-oil-driven-selloff-2017-06-22
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1498199671628105200.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1498195986617956500.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1498195603557950500.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1498200163358120800.html
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN19E06P
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/news/gold-steady-heads-for-third-weekly-fall/articleshow/59280415.cms