Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian shares were higher, tracking gains seen on Wall Street amid earnings season news and following upbeat remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during his congressional testimony. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks closed higher, extending a recent upswing after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated the U.S. central bank wouldn’t move too quickly in changing monetary policy, and that it would be flexible in the face of changing conditions. |
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Today's News
Today’s News
RPC Group, reported a 5.8% rise in quarterly revenue, helped by contribution from its Astrapak moulded plastic packaging business and favourable polymer pricing. The company said revenue rose to £964.7m in the quarter ended June 30.
EasyJet said it delivered a “strong” performance in the third quarter, upping its annual guidance for headline pretax profit. Revenue in the quarter to June 30 increased 14% to £1.6bn. Within this, ancillary revenue was up 21% to £328mi. Passenger numbers in the quarter rose 9.3% to 24.4m. Total revenue per seat, excluding Tegel operations, increased by 4.8% at constant currency.
Novartis sales and profit grew in the second quarter of 2018, the company said, as rising demand for the drugmaker’s Cosentyx arthritis medicine and heart failure medicine Entresto offset weakness at its Sandoz generics unit. Core operating profit rose 7% to $3.541bn, compared to the average forecast of $3.46bn of analysts. Sales rose 5% in constant currencies to $13.158bn, compared to the forecast of $12.92bn.
Severn Trent said it made a “good” start to the financial year that began in April and is confident that it can present a business plan for AMP7 on time. Severn Trent noted that it is making good progress on its business plan for AMP7, the regulatory period from 2020-2025, which will be submitted to UK water industry regulator Ofwat in September. The company noted it is reinvesting £100m in cost efficiency savings into its water business as part of the business plan.
GVC said, it was ‘well placed’ to deliver against its full-year expectations as first-half growth was bolstered by good underlying momentum and the World Cup . Online Net gaming revenue – the amount gained in stakes minus payouts – grew 22% in second quarter of the year and 18% for the six months to 30 June 2018.
BHP Billiton posted record iron ore output for fiscal 2018 as fourth-quarter production topped expectations and set a slightly higher target for the current year. Iron ore output at the world’s biggest miner rose to 72 million tonnes during the three months through June, compared with 70 million tonnes a year ago.
Tullow Oil said that it had lost a legal dispute against Kosmos Energy related to costs associated with a disputed rig-hire contract in Ghana. A panel of arbitrators, working under the jurisdiction of the International Chamber of Commerce, said Kosmos was not liable for its share costs, which amounted to $50.8m.
High-street food, clothing and homewares retailer Marks & Spencer Group is to reboot its energy offering as it looks to challenge Britain’s dominant gas and electricity providers. The retailer has announced a new strategic partnership with Octopus Energy to supply households under the M&S brand from September 2018. The launch of M&S Energy comes just a week after the high-street firm split with SSE PLC, its previous partner of nine years.
Smiths Group said its underlying revenue had risen in the year to date, though it warned that its medical unit would perform below its expectations. The company said it had ‘successfully returned to growth’, with underlying revenue up 3% in the first 11 months of its current financial year ended July.
Oil Prices dropped after an industry group reported that U.S. crude inventories rose last week, defying analyst expectations for a significant reduction.
Gold Prices failed to hold overnight rally, slipping back below $1240 per ounce as US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell indicated the U.S. central bank wouldn’t move too quickly in changing the monetary policy.
Companies Reporting this week
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
UK 100 |
7,656.5 |
+30.2 |
+0.4% |
UK 250 |
20,937.1 |
+65.8 |
+0.3% |
GER 30 |
12,730.4 |
+68.9 |
+0.5% |
FRA 40 |
5,441.3 |
+18.8 |
+0.4% |
US 30 |
25,119.89 |
+55.53 |
+0.2% |
U.S. 500 |
2,809.55 |
+11.12 |
+0.4% |
OIL (Crude) |
71.66 |
-0.50 |
-0.7% |
GOLD |
1,224.34 |
-3.20 |
-0.3% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
EasyJet |
1715.5 |
+62.5 |
+3.8% |
Halma |
1389 |
+23 |
+1.7% |
Hunting Group |
766.5 |
+23.5 |
+3.2% |
Smiths Group |
1643 |
-106.5 |
-6.1% |
Severn Trent |
1881.5 |
-16 |
-0.8% |
RPC Group |
716.7 |
-58.3 |
-7.5% |
Latest Broker Views
Randgold Resources |
Barclays |
Overweight |
5498 |
6350 |
Rio Tinto |
Goldman Sachs |
Neutral |
4072.5 |
3950 |
London Stock Exchange |
HSBC |
Hold |
4500 |
4300 |
Glencore |
Barclays |
Overweight |
313.1 |
400 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
9.30am: U.K. CPI y/y |
2.4% |
2.6% |
– |
9.30am: U.K. RPI y/y |
3.3% |
3.5% |
– |
1.30pm: U.S. Building Permits |
1.33m |
1.30m |
– |
3.30pm: U.S. Crude Oil Inventories |
-12.6m |
-3.4m |
– |
Sources:
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6056683/Tullow-Oil-loses-50-point-8m-legal-dispute-against-Kosmos-Energy.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6056664/Smiths-Group-warns-of-revenue-slump-in-medical-business.html
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-gvc-holdings-outlook/gvcs-gaming-revenue-rises-11-percent-on-football-world-cup-boost-idUKKBN1K80HP?il=0
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rpc-group-outlook/plastics-packager-rpc-posts-5-8-percent-rise-in-revenue-idUKKBN1K80H3?il=0
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bhp-billiton-ltd-output/bhp-posts-record-annual-iron-ore-output-beats-fourth-quarter-forecasts-idUKKBN1K8076?il=0