Market overview: Footsie tracks Dow lower, Brent slides
1630: UK stocks ended the session near their worst levels of the day as Wall Street resumed its recent slide. A worse-than-expected reading on German exports for August did little to prop up sentiment, as did a rather nuanced speech from ECB president Mario Draghi. Speaking from Washington, Draghi again emphasised the need for structural reforms in the single currency area. Tellingly, not late after the close Brent futures were to be seen trading below the $90 per barrel mark on the ICE for the first time in two years. Concerns regarding Ebola continued to simmer in the background. FTSE 100 down 50 to 6,432.
Centamin (DI)
127.50p
17:05 19/04/24
FTSE 100
7,895.85
16:59 19/04/24
Hays
91.45p
17:05 19/04/24
International Distributions Services
272.20p
16:40 19/04/24
New Britain Palm Oil Ltd. (DI)
712.50p
16:50 24/03/15
Randgold Resources Ltd.
6,546.00p
17:00 28/12/18
Serco Group
179.10p
16:34 19/04/24
Vodafone Group
67.00p
16:40 19/04/24
1603: Central bankers’ trips around the globe sometimes seems the best hint that something is afoot. Speaking just now at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.. Draghi has started by saying that “[without reforms] I am not so sure that good times lie ahead [in the Eurozone].”
1551: The luxury sector could take a big hit if an outbreak of the Ebola virus hits tourism, according to analysts at Berenberg. They said: "In our view, the reduction of tourist flows could affect travel retail sales, one of the fastest-growing categories for luxury, beauty and spirits. We see a greater risk for luxury goods as we estimate that tourists account for more than 50% of European purchases."
1447: Malaysia Kulim has responded to Sime Darby's all-cash offer for New Britain Palm Oil. It will accept the bid so long as there is now superior offer for its stake in New Britain. Shares of New Britain are now rising by 75%.
1440: Serco is looking to sell its environmental services and and leisure business, according to Reuters.
1330: US initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to 287,000 in the week ended 4 October from 288,000 the previous week. Analysts had expected an increase to 295,000.
1200: MPC keeps interest rate and size of APF unchanged.
1130: Vodafone (-1.2%) is among the worst performers on the FTSE 100 after a downgrade from Nomura. The broker has cut its rating from 'neutral' to 'reduce', saying that "competition [is] set to increase, not decrease", despite the stock being price for "market repair".
1045: Sime Darby Behad, a Malaysian conglomerate, has offered to acquire all of New Britain Palm Oil for £7.15 a share, valuing the Papua New Guinea-based plantation company at £1.07bn.
1025: Further confirmation of a slowdown in the UK housing market has come from mortgage lenders, who said that August saw the first month-on-month fall in house purchase lending volume since February. Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that first-time buyer and home-mover lending, re-mortgaging and buy-to-let lending all declined in August compared to July.
1018: Clothing retailer N Brown is down around 13% after lowering its full year profit targets. While interim results were in line with reduced expectations, the retailer, which is focused on middle-aged, older and larger-sized ladies, lowered guidance for full-year profits after the second half started weakly due to mild weather.
1000: An Australian nurse has been hospitalised after reporting symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus. The nurse returned to Queensland from Sierra Leone on Tuesday, where she had been working with patients infected with the disease.
0940: Royal Mail is up on the news that it has done a deal to end a competition probe in France. The former state-owned mail group, which was privatised last year, said it had entered into a settlement agreement with the French competition authority in respect of alleged breaches of anti-trust laws by one of its subsidiaries. Royal Mail said regulators would continue their investigation, but agreeing a settlement and compliance commitments now would allow it to benefit from a reduction in any fine imposed.
0915: Shares inEgyptian gold miner Centamin were on the up, as the company lifted Q3 production 15% year-on-year and bullishly reiterated its optimistic full-year target. After producing an estimated 93,624oz of gold in the quarter from its Sukari gold mine the company has so far unearthed around 250,000oz in the year to date, leaving it a massive production mountain climb of 170,000oz in the fourth quarter in order to meet that target. Broker Westhouse said production was below its expectations and that full-year guidance “looks increasingly challenging”.
0840: Chartered surveyors have predicted further falls in London house prices. London house prices have dropped for the first time since January 2011 and will continue to drop, according to the latest UK residential market survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
0826: Stocks have begun the day stronger following an unexpected near 300-point bounce in the Dow Jones Industrial overnight. Shares of Randgold Resources are in the lead on the heels of upgrades out of Numis and HSBC. In general, however, shares of all precious metals miners are moving higher, thanks to a ‘dovish’ set of Fed minutes released overnight. Recruitment firm Hays is also outperforming the wider market after announcing that it has made a "good start" to the new financial year, with like-for-like (LFL) net fees up 9% in the first quarter. FTSE 100 up 40 to 6,522.61.