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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC | 361.2 | 2.3% |
| Admiral Group PLC | 2,580.0 | 1.9% |
| Pershing Square Holdings LTD | 3,930.0 | 1.8% |
| International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. | 155.0 | 1.5% |
| Rentokil Initial PLC | 435.0 | 1.5% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Ocado Group PLC | 491.5 | -7.0% |
| St. James’s Place PLC | 617.8 | -3.9% |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC | 1,994.0 | -3.9% |
| Anglo American PLC | 1,726.6 | -3.3% |
| Bunzl PLC | 3,210.0 | -2.9% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 YEAR |
| UK 100 INDEX | 7,684 | -0.3% | -3.2% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 39,069 | -0.2% | 18.8% |
| DAX INDEX | 17,423 | 0.0% | 13.3% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 39,240 | 0.0% | 43.1% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 7,663 | 0.1% | 6.1% |
| Commodities | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 77.86 | 0.36% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 82.84 | 0.38% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 2,036 | 0.2% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 386 | 0.6% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 called to open -3 points at 7,681. The UK 100 looks set to open slightly lower this morning following a reversal of early gains on Wall Street yesterday, The S&P fell 0.38% to 5,069.53. The Nasdaq declined 0.13% to close at 15,976.25. The Dow Jones slipped 62.30 points, or 0.16% to close at 39,069.23.
ABRDN reported a dip in FY operating profit for 2023 as it pursues deep cost cuts to revive performance. They reported an adjusted operating profit of £249m for the 12-month period, down 5% on the £263m in the previous year and in line with the £242m average of analyst forecasts compiled by the company. They announced a FY dividend of 14.6p per share.
Croda International reported annual profits above average market estimates and said it has seen signs of a rebound in demand at its consumer care unit in the new year. They posted an adjusted pretax profit of £308.8m for the FY ended Dec 31st, above analysts’ average expectations of £300.8m.
Smith & Nephew have forecast an improvement in their profit margin this year after beating market expectations for 2023 earnings, driven by robust sales in its orthopaedics and wound management segments. They state that their profit margin for 2024 was expected to be at least 18% higher than the 17.5% achieved in the previous year. Their trading profit came in at $970m for the year ended Dec 31st, compared with average analyst forecasts of $966m.
Barclays Upgrades Flutter to Overweight from Equal Weight (17 Buys / 4 Holds / 0 Sells)
UK
Croda International
Smith & Nephew*
abrdn
US
Lemonade
Virgin Galactic
UK
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings
Derwent London
Primary Health Properties*
Reckitt Benckiser
St James Place
Taylor Wimpey
US
Baidu
Viatris
AMC Entertainment
HP
Salesforce
Snowflake
German Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey
US Durable Goods Orders
US Housing Price Index
US Consumer Confidence
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 29th February 2024:
Barclays
Diageo
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 29th February 2024:
Diversified Energy Company
Plus500
Ashmore Group
JLEN Environmental Assets Group
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Tst
HICL Infrastructure
Hargreaves Lansdown
LondonMetric Property
Hays
Scottish American Investment Company
Alliance Trust
Genus
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