Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian stock markets were sharply higher, following even-bigger increases Tuesday on Wall Street. Gains of at or just above 1% have been logged in Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks gained the most in more than six months as corporate earnings provided a respite from tensions over trade and geopolitics. The dollar declined. |
Today's News
US President Donald Trump has escalated his war of words against America’s central bank, calling the Federal Reserve his “biggest threat”. The remarks, made in an interview with US media outlet Fox Business, follow the president’s repeated criticism of the Fed for its decision to raise interest rates.
Barratt Developments said it had made ‘strong’ start to the new fiscal year as housing demand remained robust supported by attractive mortgages and positive government policy. The housebuilder’s forward sales were up £3.15bn for the period, up by 12.4% as compared to £2.80bn a year earlier.
Softcat posted a 35% rise in annual profit as it grew its customer numbers and cross-sold more products to existing customers. Pre-tax profit for the year through July rose to £68.1m, as revenue rose 30% to £1.08bn.
BHP said strong Chinese demand helped to boost first-quarter iron ore production, but cut 2019 copper output forecasts by 3%, due to outages at mines in Chile and Australia. The world’s biggest miner said it expected copper production to be 1.62m – 1.71m tonnes from .
Pearson said its revenue was flat in the first nine months of the year, and stuck to its full year guidance. The company said the flat revenue performance came as weakness in its US higher education business was offset by a combined improvement at all its other divisions.
Segro said it collected total ‘headline’ rent for the first nine months of the year of £52.0m, a rise of 43% on-year. Headline rent was defined by the company annualised gross passing rent receivable, once incentives such as rent-free periods had expired.
Netflix shares surged as much as 12% in after-hours trading following the release of its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday. The streaming giant’s earnings of $403m, or $0.89 on a per share basis, topped Wall Street estimates of a $0.68 reading.
Rathbone Brothers said its funds under management increased by 19% in the third quarter following its acquisition of Speirs & Jeffrey, helping it to boost operating income. Funds under management for the three months through September grew to £47.3bn.
Mediclinic International said its first-half revenue and operating profits fell, amid a weaker-than-expected performance in the Middle East and Switzerland. Adjusted Ebitda for the six months through September fell around 8% to around £21.0m, as revenue fell 1% to £1.40bn.
Crest Nicholson cut its profit guidance for the full year blaming lower margins owing to rising costs and subdued sales as homebuyers shunned higher priced homes in the South East and London. The company said it now expected that full-year pre-tax profit would be in the range of £170m to £190m.
Hochschild guided full-year production higher, following ‘robust’ output in the third-quarter of the year. The company upgraded its 2018 production target to 520,000 gold equivalent ounces and lowered its all-in sustaining costs guidance to a range of $940 to $970 per gold equivalent ounce from $960 to $990 previously.
Sales and profits at Asos continue to soar as the online fast fashion expands apace in Europe and the US. The firm posted a £500m rise in revenue to £2.4bn for the year to 31 August, while profit jumped 28% to £102m, just ahead of expectations.
Oil Prices extended gains into a fourth session, buoyed as industry data showed a surprise decline in U.S. crude inventories
Gold Prices edged lower as equities gained and the dollar firmed amid waning risk-averse sentiment, with the market awaiting minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for fresh clues on the pace of interest rate hikes.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Monday: |
Schroders |
Tuesday: |
Bellway * Rio Tinto * Merlin Entertainments |
Wednesday: |
BHP Billiton * Segro * Barratt Developments * Pearson * Crest Nicholson * Softcat |
Thursday: |
Micro Focus * Domino’s Pizza * Rentokil |
Friday: |
LSE * InterContinental Hotels * Provident Financial * Acacia Mining |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,078.7 |
+19.3 |
+0.3% |
UK 250 |
19,187.2 |
+37.4 |
+0.2% |
GER 30 |
11,811.1 |
+34.6 |
+0.3% |
FRA 40 |
5,187.1 |
+14.0 |
+0.3% |
US 30 |
25,798.42 |
+547.87 |
+2.2% |
US 500 |
2,809.92 |
+59.13 |
+2.2% |
Oil (Crude) |
81.55 |
+0.14 |
+0.2% |
GOLD |
1,223.34 |
-1.61 |
-0.1% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Pearson |
852.6 |
+35.2 |
+4.3% |
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust |
503.5 |
+18.75 |
+3.9% |
Sophos Group |
497.6 |
+24.2 |
+5.1% |
Berkeley Group |
3313 |
-87 |
-2.6% |
Fresnillo |
892.6 |
-15.8 |
-1.7% |
Crest Nicholson |
299.8 |
-23.2 |
-7.2% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Rio Tinto |
HSBC |
Buy |
3738 |
4790 |
GVC Holding |
HSBC |
Buy |
925 |
1135 |
Royal Dutch Shell B |
JPMorgan |
Overweight |
2545.5 |
3250 |
BP |
JPMorgan |
Overweight |
560.1 |
650 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
9.30am: U.K. CPI y/y |
2.7% |
2.6% |
– |
Day 1: EU Economic Summit |
– |
– |
– |
Sources
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-jump-following-wall-streets-big-gains-2018-10-16
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-15/asian-stocks-set-for-mixed-open-dollar-declines-markets-wrap
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-prices-edge-up-on-surprise-drawdown-in-u-s-crude-stockpiles-idUSKCN1MR03G
https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-inches-down-as-equities-dollar-firm-fed-minutes-in-focus-idUKL3N1WX1L5
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170533/Rathbone-Brothers-operating-income-rises-in-third-quarter.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170510/Mediclinic-International-earnings-fall-as-Switzerland-Middle-East-disappoint.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170528/Crest-Nicholson-warns-on-profits-as-margins-come-under-pressure.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170453/Barrett-Development-forward-sales-rise-12-point-4pct-amid-strong-start-to-new-year.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170476/Softcat-profit-jumps-43pct-declares-another-special-dividend.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170578/Hochschild-raises-full-year-production-guidance-after-robust-Q3-output.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170208/Pearson-revenue-flat-so-far-this-year-sticks-to-annual-profit-guidance.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6170376/Segro-rental-income-up-43pct-occupancy-rate-falls.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/bhp–3543762.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/international-companies/netflix-shares-leap-following-third-quarter-earnings-beat–3543438.html
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1539754345775176400.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45881966
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-45836721
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45886788