Shell planning cost and investment reductions in 2015
London open
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 50 points lower than Wednesday’s close of 6,825.94.
Stocks to watch
Oil major Shell is looking to reduce costs and lower investment in 2015, but stressed that it wouldn’t “over-react” to the collapse in crude prices. However, depressed prices - currently trading at their lowest in almost five years - and the impact of the $15bn of divestments made in 2014 would likely reduce cash flow this year.
After a bad start to its financial year, drinks giant Diageo delivered a much improved performance in the second quarter with stronger net sales, volumes and margins - though volumes are still falling. Organic net sales in the half were broadly flat, down 0.1% compared to the 1.5% fall in the first quarter, with a 1.9% decline in volume beating the prior 3.5% fall.
In the press
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy uses tax-payer money to fund his office, car, security and even his dry-cleaning bills to the tune of €2.2 m each year, according to The Times. Outraged campaigners have claimed that Sarkozy and two other French presidents Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and Jacques Chirac cost France €6.2m every year.
Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of British public funds have been passed on to an aid agency accused of paying international criminals according to a government spending watchdog, The Guardian wrote.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney has attacked austerity in the Eurozone, according to The Times, by warning that unless wealthy states help poorer countries, the region may become trapped in “another lost decade”.
US close
US stocks slid on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee reiterated it plans to remain patient and watch the data as it decides when to raise interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 195.84 points down at 17,191.37, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended the session down 1.35% and 0.93% respectively.
As expected, the Fed maintained its stance on interest rates, saying it "can be patient in beginning to normalise the stance of monetary policy".
That language is widely interpreted as meaning that policymakers won't begin to hike rates from near-zero for at least another two Federal Open Market Committee meetings.