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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Next PLC | 7,204.0 | 4.7% |
| Airtel Africa PLC | 118.5 | 4.6% |
| Melrose Industries PLC | 485.4 | 3.9% |
| Marks And Spencer Group PLC | 225.0 | 3.8% |
| Centrica PLC | 162.5 | 3.3% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Standard Chartered PLC | 613.8 | -2.6% |
| Endeavour Mining PLC | 1,660.0 | 2.4% |
| Antofagasta PLC | 1,319.0 | -1.9% |
| GSK PLC | 1,433.8 | -1.6% |
| Croda International PLC | 4,308.0 | -1.6% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 YEAR |
| UK 100 INDEX | 7,358 | 0.5% | 2.6% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 33,099 | 0.1% | 1.5% |
| DAX INDEX | 14,934 | 0.8% | 11.9% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 31,602 | 2.4% | 14.2% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 6,838 | 0.9% | -2.1% |
| Commodities | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 82.25 | 1.52% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 86.36 | 1.58% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 1,978 | -0.3% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 366 | 0.3% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 called to open +52 points at 7,393. The UK 100 is expected to climb when trading begins on Thursday ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate decision at midday. Yesterday the federal reserve kept interest rates unchanged and comments from Chair Jerome Powell suggested that interest rates may not rise further this year, especially as the U.S. economy cools. This saw U.S. Treasury yields fall sharply in overnight trade, in turn boosting technology stocks. The Dow Jones added 221.71 points, or 0.67%, to end at 33,274.58. The S&P climbed 1.05% to 4,237.86, briefly crossing its 200-day moving average. The Nasdaq however was the strongest performing index, gaining 1.64% to 13,061.47. Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday, buoyed by a rally in the technology sector.
British American Tobacco appoints Soraya Benchikh as their finance chief, from 1st May 2024.
BT Group posted Q2 earnings slightly ahead of forecasts putting it on track to meet 2024 guidance. Strong costs controls helped BT post a rise in adjusted Q2 core profit (EBITDA) to £2.06bn, beating the £2.03bn consensus forecast.
Haleon reported higher Q3 revenue and stuck by its FY forecasts, helped by price hikes and resilient demand for its painkillers, cold and flu tablets and oral health products. They reported a 5% organic increase in revenue to £2.79bn.
Howden Joinery maintains their FY expectations for 2023.
Sainsbury’s sees their FY profit at the upper half of previous guidance as they reported flat profit for H1, with strong grocery sales offset by weaker performance in general merchandise.
Shell reported Q3 earnings of $6.2bn, in line with expectations on higher refining margins and strong LNG trading. They announced share buybacks of $3.5bn over the next three months, up from $2.7bn in the previous quarter.
Smith & Nephew beat market expectations as they posted higher Q3 revenue on the back of strong demand for its medical products. They posted a 8.5% rise in revenue to £1.36bn for the quarter, above analysts’ average expectations of £1.34bn. They have also named John Rogers as their new CFO, replacing Anne-Francoise Nesmes effective in Q1 2024.
Trainline have reported a H1 adjusted EBITDA of £57m.
No new broker comments
UK
BT Group
Haleon
Helios Towers
Howden Joinery Group
OSB Group
Sainsbury (J)
Shell
Smith & Nephew
TI Fluid Systems
Trainline
US
Ball Corp
Barrick Gold
Eli Lilly and Co
Moderna
Novo Nordisk
Palantir Technologies
Starbucks Corp
Apple Inc
Block
Coinbase Global
Shopify
Virgin Galactic
UK
None
US
None
German HCOB Manufacturing PMI
German Unemployment Change
US Challenger Job Cuts
Bank of England Monetary Policy Report
BoE Asset Purchase Facility
BoE Interest Rate Decision
BoE Minutes
BoE Monetary Policy Report
US Initial Jobless Claims
US Nonfarm Productivity
US Unit Labor Costs
BoE’s Governor Bailey speech
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 2nd November 2023:
Whitbread
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 2nd November 2023:
Ashmore Group
PZ Cussons
European Smaller Companies Trust
ME Group International
Renishaw
Hilton Food Group
Tritax Big Box REIT
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund
Edinburgh Investment Trust
European Opportunities Trust
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