2024-03-22 07:43:09
(Alliance News) – Stocks in London are set to open slightly lower on Friday as investors take a breather after a busy week of interest rate decisions.
In early economic news, UK retail sales remained stable in February, following a sharp rise in January, new data shows.
“Retail sales remained stable in February, a little better than expected. This is a decent performance, especially after a very strong January, with sales figures for this month also revised upwards to 3.6 %,” said Charlie Huggins of the Wealth Club.
Here’s what you need to know when the London market opens:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down slightly to 7,879.60
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Hang Seng: up 1.9% to 16,540.03
Nikkei 225: closes up 0.2% at 40,888.43
S&P/ASX 200: closes down 0.2% at 7,770.60
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DJIA: close up 269.24 points, 0.7%, at 39,781.37
S&P 500: closes up 16.91 points, 0.3%, at 5,241.53
Nasdaq Composite: closes up 32.43 points, 0.2%, at 16,401.84
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EUR: down to 1.0830 USD (1.0859 USD)
GBP: down to 1.2626 USD (1.2665 USD)
USD: down to 151.29 JPY (151.69 JPY)
Gold: down to $2,169.88 per ounce ($2,178.10)
(Brent: down to USD 85.22 per barrel (USD 85.50)
(changes since the last close of London stock markets)
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Friday’s key economic events are still to come:
08:30 EDT Canadian Retail Sales
11:00 EDT Canada’s budget balance
Eurozone Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, speaks
10:00 CET Germany Business climate Ifo
14:00 CET Germany Deutsche Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel speaks
11:00 GMT Ireland Wholesale Price
09:00 CET Spain Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos speaks
09:00 CET Switzerland Current account
12:15 EDT Michael Barr, Vice Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, speaks
1:00 p.m. EDT US Baker Hughes – Number of oil rigs
4:00 p.m. EDT United States Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks
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UK retail sales remained stable in February, following a sharp increase in January, according to new data released on Friday. According to the Office for National Statistics, UK retail sales remained stable in February, following a 3.6% increase in January. The January figure was revised upwards (3.4%). The February retail sales figure was predicted to show a 0.3% decline, according to FXStreet, so the actual figure beat the market consensus. “Sales volumes in clothing and department stores increased due to the new collections, but declines in food stores and fuel retailers offset this growth. Meanwhile, online sales increased , particularly for clothing retailers, as wet weather affected footfall,” the ONS said. Year-on-year, UK retail sales fell by 0.4% in February, following an increase of 0.5% in January. FXStreet expected retail sales to decline 0.7% year-over-year.
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Foreign Secretary David Cameron has called for closer cooperation with Australia to strengthen the security and stability of the Commonwealth. Mr Cameron was speaking in Adelaide after talks with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, as well as Defense Minister Grant Shapps. These talks allowed the two countries to sign a defense and security agreement and to announce the signing of a contract with the London-based company BAE Systems, specializing in defense, aerospace and security, for the construction of nuclear-powered submarines, as part of the Aukus agreement concluded between the two countries and the United States. “This is a strong partnership, which has been further strengthened in recent years,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “I think the discussions showed that we share the same analyzes and the same values.
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CHANGES IN BROKER RATINGS
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RBC reduces St James’s Place to sector perform – target price of 500 (950) pence
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HSBC reduces Ascential to “hold” (buy) – target price 320 (310) pence
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Berenberg reduces Redrow to ‘hold’ (buy) – target price 688 (643) pence
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COMPANIES – FTSE 100
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Phoenix said that in 2023 its adjusted operating profit before tax increased to £617m, up from £544m the previous year. Its pre-tax loss attributable to owners narrowed to £164 million, from £3.51 billion. Phoenix’s Solvency II ratio for 2023 stood at 36%, up from 34% the previous year. Following these results, the company said it would pay a final dividend of 26.65 pence per share, bringing the annual dividend to 52.65 pence, up from 50.8 pence previously. CEO Andy Briggs said: “Phoenix’s vision is to be the UK’s leader in retirement savings and income, and we are making great progress in delivering our strategy to achieve this, as demonstrated by our excellent financial results for 2023.”
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Glencore, a multinational commodities trading and mining company, said its long-serving non-executive director Peter Coates will not seek re-election at the May 29 annual general meeting and will step down from the board of administration on this date. Mr. Coates joined the board when the company went public in 2011. “Peter’s retirement marks the end of two long eras. Firstly, he ends a career in mining industry that dates back more than half a century. Secondly, he completes a thirty-year association with Glencore, which began in 1994 when he was appointed to lead Glencore’s then embryonic coal industry.” said Kalidas Madhavpeddi, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Glencore has appointed John Wallington as a non-executive director, effective June 1. Mr. Wallington spent most of his career at Anglo American.
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COMPANIES – FTSE 250
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Pub chain Wetherspoon has published its results for the 26 weeks ending January 28. Half-year turnover rose from £916 million the previous year to £991 million. Pre-tax profit fell to £26.1m from £57m. Wetherspoon did not declare an interim dividend, as in the previous year. “Sales continue to improve. Over the last seven weeks, through March 17, 2024, like-for-like sales increased by 5.8%,” said President Tim Martin.
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Jefferies International announced Thursday that an investor was considering selling shares of Darktrace. Darktrace is a cybersecurity company based in Cambridge, England. On Friday, KKR Dark Aggregator said it sold 19.4 million shares at 425 pence each, worth £82.5 million. US investment firm KKR Dark Aggregator has agreed to a 60-day lock-up period for remaining shares of Darktrace held by funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP and its affiliates. This fund first invested in Darktrace in 2016.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Nike said Thursday that its third-quarter revenue rose only slightly, although it reported sales growth in key regions of North America and China. The sportswear company said revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 29 rose 0.3 percent to $12.43 billion, from $12.39 billion a year earlier. Net profit, however, fell 5.5%, from USD 1.24 billion to USD 1.17 billion. Basic earnings per share increased from $0.80 to $0.77. Total selling and administrative expenses increased 6.7% to $4.23 billion. The gross margin, however, increased from 43.3% to 44.8%. “We are making the necessary adjustments to position Nike for the next chapter of its growth,” said Chairman and CEO John Donahoe.
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By Sophie Rose, senior journalist at Alliance News
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Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All rights reserved.
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