Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
European stocks rallied to close higher Thursday afternoon after the European Central Bank outlined plans to end its massive stimulus program by the end of 2018, but also claimed interest rates won’t likely budge for more than a year. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks ticked higher,after the European Central Bank signaled that any interest ratehike was still far away, even as it moved to end its 2.55trillion euro stimulus program by the end of the year. |
Today's News
Tesco says its growth plans are on track after it reported a 10th consecutive quarter of rising sales. UK like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new stores, rose 2.1% in the 13 weeks to 26 May. The supermarket giant said sales had recovered after being affected by bad weather conditions in March.
Glencore it would pay royalties due to Ventora Development Sasu to settle a legal dispute, averting the risk of Ventora seizing its assets. The settlement would allow Glencore and Katanga mining to discharge their obligations under the terms of the pre-existing contracts, Glencore said.
Ascential said it had acquired Warc Limited for an initial £19.5m. Ascential said it would combine Warc with Cannes Lions’ The Work, to form a digital subscription product of scale. As well as the initial £19.5m payment for the acquisition, £4.5m would be paid in 2019.
CRH said that it has received regulatory approval for its $3.5bn acquisition of Kansas-based cement manufacturer Ash Grove. The deal, which was announced in September 2017, has been approved by the US Federal Trade Commission and there are no further regulatory approvals outstanding.
BTG said the US Food & Drug Administration refused to approve the company’s Elevair endobronchial coil system for the treatment of people with severe emphysema. The US healthcare watchdog panel voted 7-5 against the notion that there was a reasonable assurance that Elevair is effective for use in patients severe emphysema and 8-3 against the notion that the benefits of Elevair outweigh the risks.
Indivior’s main revenue-generating product, Suboxone film, came under pressure overnight as rival Dr Reddy’s Labs won regulatory approval to its generic version of the sublingual film. Dr Reddy’s announced the approval from US Food & Drug Administration and said is launching buprenorphine and naloxone film to treat adults with opioid addiction.
Rolls-Royce, which is cutting 4,600 jobs,outlined its mid-term financial targets of improving its free cash flow generation and return on investments. The company is targeting to exceed £1 per share of free cash flow generation and a cash flow return on invested capital of 15% in the medium term. In 2017, free cash flow generation stood at 15 pence, while return on invested capital was 9%.
Stobart Group has issued a letter to shareholders ahead of this month’s annual meeting (AGM), after announcing yesterday it had dismissed former chief executive Andrew Tinkler and was seeking legal action. Today it is launching proceedings in the High Court to seek damages from him for what the company said included “breaches of contractual and fiduciary duties”, and has reached out to shareholders warning of Tinkler’s attempts to “destabilise the company”.
Oil Prices were little changed , as investors eyed a key OPEC meeting in Vienna and Saudi Arabia and Russia indicated they want production to rise.
Gold Prices steady, on the European Central Bank’s decision to keep interest rates steady through the summer of 2019 and looming trade worries.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Monday: |
Games Workshop |
Tuesday: |
Halma |
Wednesday: |
Mulberry |
Thursday: |
Aveva |
Friday: |
– |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,758.6 |
-7.2 |
-0.1% |
UK 250 |
21,281.3 |
-42.7 |
-0.2% |
GER 30 |
13,107.8 |
+0.7 |
+0.1% |
FRA 40 |
5,541.5 |
+13.0 |
+0.2% |
U.S. 30 |
25,175.31 |
-25.89 |
-0.1% |
U.S. 500 |
2,782.49 |
+6.86 |
+0.3% |
OIL (Crude) |
75.88 |
-0.06 |
-0.1% |
GOLD |
1,299.74 |
-2.51 |
-0.2% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Rolls Royce |
970 |
+87.2 |
+9.9% |
Tesco |
256.1 |
+6.3 |
+2.5% |
FirstGroup |
85.3 |
+1.3 |
+1.5% |
Old Mutual |
223.1 |
-3.8 |
-1.7% |
Mediclinic |
559 |
-5.2 |
-0.9% |
Indivior |
425.55 |
-68.95 |
-13.9% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
GlaxoSmithKline |
Jefferies |
Buy |
1580.2 |
1700 |
Astrazeneca |
Jefferies |
Buy |
5448 |
6000 |
IAG |
Deutsche Bank |
Buy |
715.2 |
750 |
Informa |
Goldman Sachs |
Buy |
834.6 |
992 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
10.00am: European Final CPI y/y |
1.9% |
1.9% |
– |
1.30pm Empire State Manufacturing Index |
20.1 |
19.1 |
– |
Sources
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/us-stockssp-inches-higher-as-ecb-signals-gradual-rate-hikes-20180614-00828
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/14/european-markets-focus-ecb-meeting.html
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil/oil-holds-a-narrow-range-as-opec-meeting-looms-idUKKBN1JB02S
https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-steady-below-1-month-high-heads-for-2nd-weekly-gain-idUKL4N1TH08F
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6013814/BTG-says-FDA-panel-voted-against-Elevair.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6013756/Glencore-agrees-to-pay-royalties-to-Ventora-to-settle-legal-dispute.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6013772/Ascential-acquires-Warc-Limited.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/indivior-comes-under-pressure-as-rival-wins-key-drug-approval–3348992.html
https://uk.webfg.com/news/news-and-announcements/crh-gets-us-regulatory-approval-for-ash-grove-acquisition–3348906.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44493414
http://www.cityam.com/287616/stobart-group-letter-shareholders-warns-ex-chiefs-efforts