Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Most Asian stocks rose moderately, taking their cue from the U.S. markets where stocks got a boost from a Federal Reserve report that painted a rosy picture of the U.S. economy. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks finished mostly higher as an anecdotal account of business conditions in the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts painted an upbeat picture of the domestic economy. |
Today's News
Anglo American reported a solid increase in overall production for the second quarter of 2018. On a copper equivalent basis, production for the three months to June rose 6% year-on-year, which excludes the stoppage at its Minas-Rio mine in Brazil due to pipeline leaks.
Euromoney Institutional Investor updated the market on its trading for the period from 1 April to 19 July on Thursday, reporting that since its interim results on 17 May, trading had continued in line with the board’s expectations.
Capita has been awarded a £30m, five-year contract by Southern Water that will see the outsourcer become its new customer services managed service provider.
Moneysupermarket posted a rise in interim profit and revenue on Thursday as it announced plans for a new mortgage business. In the six months to 30 June, profit after tax and revenue rose 5% to £42.5m and £173.7m, respectively, while basic earnings per share were up 7% to 7.9p.
Unilever’s underlying sales growth slowed more than expected in the second quarter due to the impact of a truckers’ strike in Brazil but the company improved profit margins and remained confident of hitting full year targets.
Hilton Food Group said first-half performance was in line with expectations amid continued progress in Western Europe. For the 28 weeks ended 15 July, the company said UK turnover had grown, and top-line growth in the Irish business had been ‘encouraging’ compared to the same period a year ago.
SSE has taken a hit of around £80m in its first quarter from the heatwave and higher gas prices and warned this could hit its full-year results. SSE said households used 10% less gas than expected over the three months to June 30 as temperatures soared.
Sports Direct profit before tax has dropped 72.5% to £77.5m which the firm says was due to “an £85.4m impact from our Debenhams strategic investment due to current year fair value adjustments” and the previous year’s income from the sale of JD Sports share and Dunlop. Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has a large stake in struggling retailer Debenhams.
Babcock International has lowered its full-year revenue growth target due to a temporary slowdown in its defence and marine work. In a trading update issued ahead of today’s annual general meeting, the company said it now expected to see low single-digit underlying revenue growth for the full year, compared with a previous forecast of “low mid-single digit” growth.
Delays and shortfalls are causing Airbus to struggle with delivery deadlines in the first six months of 2018. Chief Executive Tom Enders said on Wednesday that the company was doing it best to deliver around 800 jets but was struggling due to supplier bottlenecks. So far the company has only managed to deliver 303 planes.
Oil Prices dropped after official data showed an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles and as U.S. output scaled record levels.
Gold Prices eased, nearing a one-year low hit in the previous session, as the U.S. dollar firmed on the potential for further U.S. interest rate hikes.
Companies Reporting this week
| Day |
Companies |
| Monday: |
– |
| Tuesday: |
Galliford Try, Royal Mail, Talk Talk |
| Wednesday: |
EasyJet, Severn Trent, GVC Holdings |
| Thursday: |
Sports Direct, Unilever, Anglo American |
| Friday: |
Acacia Mining, Beazley |
Early Market Movements
| Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
| UK 100 |
7,679.1 |
+2.8 |
+0.0% |
| UK 250 |
20,954.8 |
-29.4 |
-0.1% |
| GER 30 |
12,747.0 |
-19.0 |
-0.2% |
| FRA 40 |
5,439.2 |
-8.2 |
-0.2% |
| US 30 |
25,199.29 |
+79.40 |
+0.3% |
| U.S. 500 |
2,815.62 |
+6.07 |
+0.2% |
| OIL (Crude) |
72.67 |
-0.23 |
-0.3% |
| GOLD |
1,223.29 |
-4.22 |
-0.3% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
| Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
| Marks And Spencer |
314.3 |
+3.2 |
+1.0% |
| Barratt Developments |
529.6 |
+5 |
+1.0% |
| Moneysupermarket |
338.4 |
+29.1 |
+9.4% |
| Ashtead Group |
2315 |
-97 |
-4.0% |
| SSE |
1338.5 |
-46 |
-3.3% |
| SportsDirect |
392.15 |
-43.95 |
-10.1% |
Latest Broker Views
| Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
| BHP Billiton |
JPMorgan |
Neutral |
1668.6 |
1945 |
| Intercontinental Hotels |
Bernebrg |
Hold |
4932 |
5000 |
| Pearson |
Goldman Sachs |
Sell |
919 |
595 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
| Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
| 9.30am: U.K. Retail Sales m/m |
1.3% |
0.1% |
– |
| 1.30pm: U.S. Philly Fed Manufacturing Index |
19.9 |
21.6 |
– |
| 1.30pm: U.S. Unemployment Claims |
214k |
220k |
– |
Sources
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-asian-stocks-rise-with-nikkei-on-track-for-five-day-winning-streak-2018-07-18
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-fight-for-direction-with-powell-morgan-stanley-earnings-ahead-2018-07-18
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-prices-fall-amid-record-u-s-output-stockpile-build-idUKKBN1K9048
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-prices-ease-close-to-1-year-low-as-dollar-firms-idUSL4N1UF21S
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1531982371202985500.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6058506/Hilton-Food-Group-H1-performance-in-line-with-expectations.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/international-companies/supplu-chain-trouble-leaves-airbus-struggling-deliver–3401820.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/unilever-interim-results-brazil-truckers-strike-profit-margins–3403066.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/euromoney–3403110.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/capita–3403143.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/moneysupermarket–3403135.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-44821117