Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian stocks started trading mixed, in a wait-and-see mode as they awaited definitive news of the U.K. election result. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks closed modestly higher, as investors mulled over former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony which overshadowed data showing that initial jobless claims fell less than expected.
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Today's News
The UK electorate has returned a hung parliament with the Conservatives as the largest party after the general election produced no overall winner. With nearly all results in, Theresa May faces having fewer seats than when she called the election.
The Tories are projected to get 318 seats, Labour 261 and the SNP 35. Jeremy Corbyn has urged the PM to resign but the suggestion is that she has no intention of doing so at this stage and will try to form a government.
Centrica said its Canadian exploration and production joint venture is to be sold to a consortium of buyers for a total of 722 million Canadian Dollars in cash, with the company set to book a substantial proportion of that consideration. Centrica’s main market is in the UK, which it serves through British Gas and other brands, but it also has operations in North America. The consideration for Centrica’s 60%-owned Canadian E&P joint venture with Qatar Petroleum is equal to around £413m in sterling, of which the London-listed company is expecting to receive around £240m.
ConvaTec Group said on that Nordic Capital Svenska AB’s representative Raj Shah will step down from the ConvaTec board as non-executive director with effect from September 8. This follows the Nordic-focused private equity firm reducing its stake in the company to 7.34% following a share placing where it and another shareholder, Avista Capital Holdings LP, sold a total of 250.0 million shares for £805.0m on Tuesday. As a result, under the terms of its relationship agreement, Nordic Capital is no longer entitled to nominate a director to ConvaTec’s board.
KAZ Mineral has completed an amendment and extension of its pre-export finance loan facility which includes an increase in the facility commitments to $600m. KAZ said the new PXF extended the maturity profile of the existing facility by 2.5 years from December 2018 until June 2021. It said that under the revised repayment profile, principal repayments would commence in July 2018 and then continue in equal monthly instalments over a three-year period until final maturity in June 2021. It added: “The facility amount has been increased to $600m reflecting strong support from the market during syndication.
A Republican push to overhaul the Dodd-Frank Act – US banking rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis – may be gaining momentum. The US House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that would scrap federal bailout powers, ease requirements on banks and weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Supporters say the proposal simplifies regulation that has stifled growth. However, opponents describe it as a “wish list” crafted by banks.
Ousted FBI chief James Comey accused US President Donald Trump of lying about his firing, which he said was because he would not be influenced over an investigation into Russian interference in US elections. “It’s my judgement that I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” Comey told the Senate intelligence committee in his first public remarks since his firing a month ago. “I was fired in some way to change – or the endeavour was to change – the way the Russia investigation was being conducted.” Comey’s firing and subsequent media revelations about the dealings between the men had created a firestorm over whether Trump had sought to have Comey drop an investigation into a top aide or otherwise influence an ongoing investigation.
China’s inflation accelerated to a four-month high in May, while producer prices grew at the slowest pace seen so far this year due to weak commodity prices. Inflation rose to 1.5% in May, in line with expectations, from 1.2% in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. This was the fastest since January, when prices climbed 2.5%. Inflation was well below the government’s target of around 3% for the whole year of 2017. Food prices fell 1.6% after easing 3.5% a month ago. Meanwhile, non-food prices rose 2.3% versus 2.4% increase in April. Month-on-month, consumer prices slid 0.1%, offsetting April’s 0.1% rise. Another report from NBS showed that producer price inflation slowed notably to 5.5% in May from 6.4% in April.
Genus said a litigation application against the company and others filed in the US over patent infringement “will not delay” the launch of its bovine semen technology. The company said that Inguran LLC, XY LLC and Cytonome ST LLT filed proceedings against Genus, ABS Global Inc, and Premium Genetics Ltd in the US over alleged infringement on seven patents and the breach of trade secret and contract claims. Genus said that the litigation is part of long running dispute between the Inguran and the other companies against Genus and its partners in relation to the development and launch of the Genus sexed semen technology, which was designed to compete with the Inguran and co’s dominance in the processing of sexed bovine semen.
Oil prices stabilized following steep falls earlier this week, but they were still pressured by evidence of an ongoing fuel glut despite efforts led by OPEC to tighten the market by holding back production.
Gold prices edged down ahead of the UK election verdict with results suggesting no clear winner which could push the country into a new bout of political turmoil before Brexit talks.
Companies Reporting this week
| Today: |
No Companies Reporting |
Early Market Movements
| UK 100 |
7,523.3 |
+73.3 |
+1.0% |
| UK 250 |
19,659.6 |
-83.8 |
-0.4% |
| GER 30 |
12,805.7 |
+92.1 |
+0.7% |
| FRA 40 |
5,319.5 |
+55.3 |
+1.1% |
| U.S. 30 |
21,182.53 |
+8.84 |
+0.0% |
| U.S. 500 |
2,433.8 |
+0.7 |
+0.0% |
| OIL (BRENT) |
47.73 |
-0.13 |
-0.3% |
| GOLD |
1,272.45 |
-5.56 |
-0.4% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
| Centrica |
205.9 |
+7.1 |
+3.57% |
| Fresnillo |
1713 |
+48 |
+2.88% |
| Kaz Minerals |
513 |
+13.3 |
+2.66% |
| Babcock |
876.5 |
-32.5 |
-3.58% |
| Crest Nicholson |
578.5 |
-32 |
-5.24% |
| Taylor Wimpey |
177 |
-6.5 |
-3.54% |
Latest Broker Views
| AA |
Citigroup |
Buy |
233.50 |
385.00 |
| BT Group |
Deutsche Bank |
Sell |
298.15 |
265.00 |
| RPC Group |
Deutsche Bank |
Buy |
811.00 |
1,140.00 |
| Shire |
Jefferies International |
Buy |
4,359.50 |
5,600.00 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
| 8:30am: U.K. Manufacturing Production m/m |
-0.6% |
0.8% |
– |
| 8:30am: U.K. Goods Trade Balance |
-13.4b |
-12.0b |
– |
| 8:30am: U.K. Industrial Production |
-0.5% |
0.7% |
– |
Sources
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4080195-u-s-stocks-eke-gains-dow-hits-record-intraday-high
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1496986448081507300.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1496989849151693900.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1496989651971683300.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5564661/KAZ-extends-and-increases-pre-export-finance-loan.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN19002R
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40179471
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1496987304671520500.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-returns-to-20000-as-asian-markets-warily-eye-uk-election-2017-06-08
http://www.livemint.com/Money/UkHQ4CIb4270hGGCYL9ZgM/Global-gold-prices-slip-early-UK-poll-results-point-to-hung.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40208731