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London open: Stocks start week on a mixed note
London stocks began the week on a mixed note, after a lacklustre session on Wall Street to close out last week.
The FTSE 100 was trading 16 points lower at 7,648.07, although the second-tier index was edging up by 0.01% to 19,217.76.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said last week ended on a cautious note after the first earnings from Big Tech companies were “not bad, but not good enough” to further boost an already-impressive rally so far this year.
“This week, the earnings season continues in full swing – 150 S&P 500 companies are due to announce their second quarter earnings throughout this week,” she explained.
On the economic side of things, purchasing managers’ surveys showed that factory and services sector activity in Germany and France both softened in July.
At 0930 S&P Global would release its Purchasing Managers’ Indices for UK manufacturing and services covering the same month.
US PMIs would follow at 1445 BST.
On the central bank front, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are all set to meet this week, with the first two widely expected to announce 25-basis point hikes each.
In equities, telecoms giant Vodafone was in focus as it said first-quarter group service revenue rose 3.7%, helped by its UK operations.
The company reported that revenue for the period came in at €10.7bn, up from €9.5bn a year earlier.
The company added that it had appointed former SAP chief financial officer Luka Mucic to the same role at Vodafone, starting on 1 September.
S4 Capital cut its targets for full-year revenues and profits due to the challenging macroeconomic conditions, specifically citing caution on the part of technology sector clients.
Like-for-like growth in net revenues was now seen at 2-4%, down from 6-10% before.
Elsewhere, GSK’s majority-owned subsidiary ViiV Healthcare announced that cabotegravir, a long-acting injectable for HIV prevention, had received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency.
Liontrust Asset Management extended its offer period to acquire GAM Holding AG for three days, until 28 July, as it tries to win over some reticent shareholders.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ocado Group Plc | +10.60% | +72.80 | 759.80 |
| 2 |  |
Vodafone Group Plc | +4.41% | +3.24 | 76.75 |
| 3 |  |
Bt Group Plc | +2.76% | +3.40 | 126.55 |
| 4 |  |
Intertek Group Plc | +1.82% | +76.00 | 4,262.00 |
| 5 |  |
Sse Plc | +1.47% | +26.50 | 1,824.00 |
| 6 |  |
Carnival Plc | +1.46% | +18.00 | 1,251.50 |
| 7 |  |
Persimmon Plc | +1.41% | +16.50 | 1,185.50 |
| 8 |  |
Segro Plc | +1.35% | +10.60 | 796.00 |
| 9 |  |
Land Securities Group Plc | +1.31% | +8.60 | 667.40 |
| 10 |  |
Direct Line Insurance Group Plc | +1.28% | +1.95 | 154.80 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Easyjet Plc | -3.29% | -15.70 | 460.80 |
| 2 |  |
Tui Ag | -3.04% | -18.50 | 590.50 |
| 3 |  |
Burberry Group Plc | -2.36% | -53.00 | 2,191.00 |
| 4 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | -2.28% | -3.55 | 152.20 |
| 5 |  |
Prudential Plc | -2.01% | -21.00 | 1,022.50 |
| 6 |  |
Wpp Plc | -1.91% | -15.80 | 812.20 |
| 7 |  |
Next Plc | -1.05% | -76.00 | 7,152.00 |
| 8 |  |
Bae Systems Plc | -0.99% | -9.20 | 918.20 |
| 9 |  |
Hargreaves Lansdown Plc | -0.91% | -8.40 | 918.60 |
| 10 |  |
Marks And Spencer Group Plc | -0.88% | -1.80 | 202.50 |
Monday newspaper round-up: Business energy, Vectura, Rhodes fire, Barbenheimer, interest rates
A coalition representing 1m small businesses is urging the energy regulator to crack down on the rogue energy brokers who rip off firms, charities, care homes and faith groups by piling billions of pounds in hidden commission fees on to bills. The business groups have written to Ofgem demanding it force gas and electricity suppliers to disclose how much they are paying the intermediaries who market deals on their behalf. – Guardian
The pharmaceuticals business bought by Philip Morris International has suffered a series of senior departures amid other setbacks to the transformation of the world’s biggest tobacco group. Michael Austwick, the chief executive of Vectura, the respiratory drugs company that Philip Morris contentiously acquired for £1 billion two years ago, is stepping down having been in the role only since he joined from Novartis in June last year. – The Times
Travel companies are scrambling to repatriate thousands of tourists from a Greek island ravaged by wildfires, as British holidaymakers spent a second night in temporary accommodation. Government officials held emergency meetings on Sunday as they called for more help for those stranded in Rhodes. – Telegraph
The success of Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office has led to Vue International reporting its biggest weekend for UK cinema ticket sales since before the pandemic. On Sunday, the cinema chain said a fifth of its customers had bought tickets to see both films in a double bill given the moniker Barbenheimer on social media. – Guardian
Rising interest rates have prompted a leading forecaster to more than halve its expectations for economic growth next year. The latest projections from the EY Item Club predict that annual growth will amount to only 0.8 per cent in 2024, less than half the 1.9 per cent forecast it made earlier in the year. – The Times
Spain’s conservatives won the country’s general election yesterday but failed to gain enough votes to form a government after the Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, outperformed predictions. Although the Popular Party was victorious, the hung parliament was a setback for Alberto Feijóo, its leader. His party has no obvious coalition partner other than the hard-right Vox party, which lost more than a third of its seats, down to 33 from 52. – The Times
Low-traffic neighbourhoods face a ban and landlords will get longer to meet energy efficiency targets as ministers retreat on “costly and unpopular” green policies. Rishi Sunak is planning to hold firm on net-zero goals while delaying or ditching a host of measures that would impose direct costs on consumers, as he comes under pressure from the right of his party to rethink Britain’s climate commitments. – The Times
The owner of British Airways has invested in a green aviation fuel producer based in Teesside as the airline industry races to meet net zero targets. IAG, the FTSE 100 group behind the UK flag carrier, Aer Lingus and Spain’s Iberia, is to invest in Nova Pangaea Technologies, which is building its headquarters within the Teesside Freeport. – Telegraph
Belarus is struggling to restrain Wagner mercenaries from attacking Poland, Alexander Lukashenko has said. The Belarusian leader made the claim during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, days after Warsaw accused Moscow of using Wagner and Minsk to destabilise Eastern Europe. – Telegraph
New Zealand’s justice minister resigned on Monday after police charged her with reckless driving and resisting arrest after a car crash. Kiri Allan was involved in the crash shortly after 9pm on Sunday in Wellington, said prime minister Chris Hipkins, and she was detained at the central police station before being released four hours later. – Guardian
