Wood Group awarded 5-year contract by Philips 66, Rathbone Bros in merger talks with Smith & Williamson
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 32 points lower on Monday morning, after closing down 0.86% at 7,323.98.
Stocks to watch
Wood Group has been awarded a five-year, multimillion dollar contract by Phillips 66 to provide supplemental maintenance services and support for small capital construction projects and turnarounds to the Sweeny Refinery, approximately 65 miles southwest of Houston, it announced on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said 175 Wood Group employees, around 80% of whom worked for the previous contractor, would be based at the refinery to provide the maintenance services. Wood Group said it has supported the refinery for more than 20 years, providing specialty heating, ventilation and air conditioning and construction services, and upgrades to the process controls, alarms and environmental data management systems.
Rathbone Brothers confirmed on Monday that it was in exclusive merger talks with stockbroker Smith & Williamson. It was reported over the weekend by Sky News that the pair were in talks over a £2bn combination.
Newspaper round-up
Britain could be subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice for years after the UK leaves the European Union, it has emerged. This week the Government will publish its blueprint for how Britain will treat rulings by the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, in civil court cases after Brexit. - Telegraph
Britain could retain access to the single market without answering to the EU’s court under plans put forward by one of Europe’s leading judges. The compromise over one of the most intractable disputes of the Brexit process is being brokered by Carl Baudenbacher, president of the court of the European Free Trade Association. - The Times
The British government’s hopes of opening discussions on a future trade relationship this autumn will definitely be dashed by the European Union due to the slow progress of Brexit negotiations, one of 27 prime ministers who will make the decision has said. Miro Cerar, the prime minister of Slovenia, revealed in an interview that it had proved too difficult to close the differences between the two sides in the opening rounds of talks, with the UK producing some unrealistic proposals. - Guardian
Pressure was mounting on telecoms regulators last night to organise a quick auction of rights to the airwaves, as fears grew that a court clash between mobile operators will delay investments in better networks. Mark Evans, chief executive of O2, backed a call by rival EE for Ofcom to press ahead with a big money sale of radio spectrum that could be used to bolster coverage immediately.
The UK's biggest broadband providers are attempting to block plans for a compensation scheme for people who suffer broadband and phone service problems, Citizens Advice has warned. BT, Virgin Media and Sky have shunned Ofcom plans for a mandatory compensation scheme and instead proposed their own, which would be voluntary. - Telegraph
US close
Wall Street slipped slightly lower heading into the weekend as traders tried to figure out the implications of recent events on Capitol Hill and weighed the unexpected departure of White House chief strategist Steven Bannon.
On a positive note, earlier in the day the White House had announced that National Economic Council director Gary Cohn would not be stepping down, quashing rumours from the previous session which had weighed on capital markets and giving markets a bid.
The announcement followed resignation over the previous sessions of multiple top executives from the various councils and forums set-up by President Trump to tackle some of the key policy issues facing the country.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrials had given back 0.35% or 76.02 points to 21,674.51, alongside a retreat of 0.18% or 4.46 points for the S&P 500 to 2,425.55 while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.09% to 6,216.53.
Regarding Bannon, some market commentary believed it might strengthen the hand of the globalists and free-traders in the Trump administration.
In economic news, the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index for August improved from a reading of 93.4 for July to 97.6 in August.