Highlights of the Day

Asian Markets

Asian stock markets were subdued, as investors remained cautious of tensions between the U.S. and China after a pan-Pacific summit ended without consensus on trade issues.

 

U.S. Markets

Stocks posted sharp weekly losses on Friday after a strong downturn in technology shares. The U.S.500 fell 1.6% this week, while the U.S.30 and the technology index both declined more than 2%.

Today's News

House prices in the UK fell this month as new sellers priced their homes more realistically in the run-up to Christmas, against a backdrop of stretched affordability and Brexit uncertainty. According to Rightmove, house prices fell by 1.7% on the month in November versus a 1% increase in October, marking the largest November drop since 2012.

 

Babcock International said it still plans to exit a number of its smaller, low-margin businesses, including the Appledore shipyard, and reshape its oil and gas business to strengthen the group but that the move would not incur material net cash costs. The support services group made the announcement on Monday following a Sky News report saying the company would announce sizeable writedowns in its half year results later this week.

 

BHP Billiton said it has ended a long-running dispute with the Australian taxman. The agreement with the Australian Tax Office covers a disagreement stretching back to 2003. It will see BHP make no admittance of any tax avoidance but pay AUD529m to the ATO. Of this, the miner has already paid AUD328m.

 

Diploma said its trading performance in 2018 was strong, as it reported a rise in earnings and raised its annual dividend. For the financial year to September 30, revenue rose 7% to £485.1m from £451.9m last year and pretax profit was up 9% to £72.7m from £66.8m the year before.  Diploma raised its total annual dividend 11% to 25.5 pence from 23p the year before.

 

LondonMetric said it had sold its retail park in Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, for £22m reflecting a net income yield of 5.2%. The property had generated a profit on cost of 40% and an ungeared return of 13% a year and was sold to a long-term investor and reflected a premium to March 2018 book value, the company said.

 

Oil Prices rose amid expectations that top exporter Saudi Arabia will push producer club OPEC to cut supply towards year-end.

 

Gold Prices were steady, with the dollar subdued after comments from Federal Reserve officials showing caution over the global economy, prompting traders to reassess the pace of future U.S. interest rate hikes.

Companies Reporting this week

Day Companies
Monday: Diploma
Tuesday: Compass * easyJet * Aveva * Electrocomponents * Big Yellow * Halma * Homeserve * SIG
Wednesday: Sage * Marstons * Johnson Matthey* United Utilities * TalkTalk * Babcock * Kingfisher
Thursday: Severn Trent * Rotork * Mitie
Friday:

Early Market Movements

Market Index Change % Change
UK 100 7,031.8 +17.9 +0.3%
UK 250 18,556.9 -32.2 -0.2%
GER 30 11,397.3 +56.3 +0.5%
FRA 40 5,047.7 +22.5 +0.5%
US 30 25,413.22 +123.95 +0.5%
US 500 2,736.27 +6.07 +0.2%
Oil (Crude) 67.32 +0.56 +0.8%
GOLD 1,220.03 -3.33 -0.3%

UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)

Company Price Change % Change
Easyjet 1194.5 +32.5 +2.8%
IAG Group 649 +14.6 +2.3%
Intermediate Capital Group 1054.5 +67 +6.8%
Coca-Cola HBC 2268 -31 -1.4%
G4S 181.425 -2.275 -1.2%
Ocado 753.8 -14.6 -1.9%

Latest Broker Views

Company Broker Recommendation Price Target
Royal Mail JPMorgan Underweight 316 285
DCC Berenberg Buy 5825 8350
Prudential Deutsche Bank Buy 1557.5 2100
BBA Aviation JPMorgan Overweight 239.4 354

Forthcoming Economic Data

Time/Date Previous Forecast Outcome
10.00am: ECB Financial Stability Review

 

 

Sources

 

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-quiet-as-us-china-trade-tensions-linger-2018-11-18

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/16/stock-market-dow-futures-brexit-turmoil-economic-data.html

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-rises-on-expected-opec-cut-but-markets-remain-wary-idUSKCN1NO01M

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-steady-as-fed-caution-on-global-economy-pressures-dollar-idUKL4N1XU1VG

 

http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6211214/LondonMetric-sells-retail-park-for-pound22m.html

 

https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements–/house-prices-drop-in-november-as-sellers-lower-expectations—rightmove–3602232.html

 

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1542609843008101500.html

 

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1542610810348137600.html

 

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1542613334908347200.html

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-46232402

 

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/209428/babcock-says-half-year-writedowns-will-not-incur-material-cash-costs-209428.html

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