Hot Features
Premium
Level up your trading with our powerful tools and real-time insights all in one place.
London open: Stocks flat in quiet trade; Ashmore hit by JPM note
London stocks were steady in early trade on Monday morning, with little in the way of corporate or macro news to provide direction.
At 0900 GMT, The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,575.81.
There are no data points of note due, but on Tuesday, investors will be eyeing the UK unemployment rate and average earnings, and the consumer price index for January in the US.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said “there’s a bit of a lack of direction with many Asian exchanges having closed for holidays”.
“There is likely to be a fair amount of treading water going on as investors wait for fresh clues about the trajectory of inflation and the implications for interest rate policy. There’s a roll call of central bankers lining up to speak, as the latest consumer price snapshots on both sides of the Atlantic are due to be published mid-week and investors assess just how quickly the UK jobs market is slowing down,” she added.
In equity markets, UK Commercial Property REIT rallied after Tritax Big Box said it had agreed terms on a possible bid for the company in an all-share deal worth £924m.
Tritax said it had offered 0.444 new Tritax shares for every UKCP share, leaving it with 76.7% of the merged group and UKCM shareholders with the remainder.
It represents a 10.8% premium to UKCP’s closing share price of 64.2 pence per share on February 9.
Travel food outlet operator SSP Group gained as it announced the acquisition of Airport Retail Enterprises in Australia for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 1971, privately-owned ARE is a food and beverage operator, with annualised sales in the region of AUD $200m (£100m) from 62 outlets, principally bars, casual dining restaurants and cafes, across seven Australian airports.
On the downside, Ashmore slumped as JPMorgan reiterated its ‘underweight’ rating on the shares and trimmed the price target, saying the re-rating has gone too far.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ocado Group Plc | +6.63% | +34.00 | 547.20 |
| 2 |  |
Tui Ag | +3.19% | +17.50 | 566.00 |
| 3 |  |
Burberry Group Plc | +2.68% | +34.00 | 1,305.00 |
| 4 |  |
Direct Line Insurance Group Plc | +1.92% | +3.10 | 164.80 |
| 5 |  |
Fresnillo Plc | +1.66% | +7.90 | 484.60 |
| 6 |  |
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Plc | +1.59% | +12.60 | 806.60 |
| 7 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | +1.46% | +2.10 | 145.90 |
| 8 |  |
Auto Trader Group Plc | +1.43% | +10.20 | 723.00 |
| 9 |  |
Spirax-sarco Engineering Plc | +1.33% | +135.00 | 10,290.00 |
| 10 |  |
Anglo American Plc | +1.09% | +18.60 | 1,721.20 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Astrazeneca Plc | -2.20% | -215.00 | 9,546.00 |
| 2 |  |
Rolls-royce Holdings Plc | -1.41% | -4.50 | 313.60 |
| 3 |  |
Bt Group Plc | -1.19% | -1.25 | 103.70 |
| 4 |  |
Barratt Developments Plc | -0.82% | -4.00 | 483.10 |
| 5 |  |
Croda International Plc | -0.74% | -37.00 | 4,933.00 |
| 6 |  |
Hsbc Holdings Plc | -0.72% | -4.40 | 605.10 |
| 7 |  |
Wpp Plc | -0.72% | -5.60 | 774.60 |
| 8 |  |
Intertek Group Plc | -0.65% | -29.00 | 4,438.00 |
| 9 |  |
Gsk Plc | -0.52% | -8.60 | 1,651.40 |
| 10 |  |
Crh Plc | -0.51% | -30.00 | 5,832.00 |
US close: Tech stocks boost markets as S&P 500 tops 5,000 for first time
The S&P 500 rose into new territory on Friday while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped over 1% after revisions to inflation data turned out to be nothing to worry about.
The S&P 500 finished up 0.57% at a fresh closing high of 5,026.61, closing above the key psychological mark of 5,000 mark for the first time.
The Nasdaq gained 1.25% to 15,990.66, finishing within 70 points of its record closing high of 16,057.44 reached in November 2021.
The Dow meanwhile slipped 0.14% to 38,671.69, pulling back after hitting a new record the previous session.
Ahead of the much-anticipated annual revisions to seasonal factors applied to consumer price index numbers, market chatter had been focused on the potential for upside risk to historic inflation figures over the past four years, clouding the outlook for future monetary policy.
But the revisions showed very little change on reported data, easing concerns that the Federal Reserve would maintain a restrictive stance for longer than expected. Revisions were minimal but net effect was that headline CPI rose at a 2.7% annualised rate in the fourth quarter of 2023, down from 2.8% previously.
“In short, these revisions to the seasonals are a damp squib, in stark contrast to last year’s revisions, which meaningfully altered the picture for the worse,” said economist Kieran Clancy from Pantheon Macroeconomics.
However, while the revisions were “uneventful on the surface”, according to economist Ryan Sweet from Oxford Economics, “they should translate into weaker growth in the PCE deflator at the end of last year”. Sweet said: “This is good news for the Federal Reserve, and it should strengthen its confidence in the inflation outlook.”
Tech stocks provide a lift
Decent gains from the likes of heavyweights Nvidia, Alphabet, Intel, Apple, Amazon.com, Microsoft and Applied Materials were providing a big lift to Wall Street on Friday as investors turned more positive on the economic outlook.
Heading the other way, however, was PepsiCo after the beverages giant missed fourth-quarter revenue expectations and guided to slower annual growth. The owner of Pepsi, Lay’s and Quaker, among others, fell 4% after unexpectedly posting a 0.5% decline in revenues in the three months to December end, to $27.9bn; analysts had predicted a 1.4% rise to $28.4bn.
Building and construction materials company Owens Corning tumbled 7% on the news it has agreed to buy Masonite, a provider of interior and exterior doors and door systems, in a $3.9bn deal. Shares in the latter jumped by 35%.
Lastly, Expedia plunged 18% after disappointing with a quarterly earnings miss and lower-than-expected bookings, as the travel company announced a change at the helm with a new chief executive starting in May.
Monday newspaper round-up: Fujitsu, Vodafone, Shawbrook
Bosses at Fujitsu have collected about £37m in pay, bonuses and compensation for loss of office since the technology company won the contract to supply the software at the heart of the Post Office Horizon scandal, it has emerged. Accounts going back 25 years reveal the seven-figure sums paid out to executives of the UK division of the Japanese-owned technology company, even as more than 900 people were prosecuted as a result of flaws in the system their company supplied. – Guardian
A new scheme to fine water companies for providing poor service to customers has been dismissed as “nothing less than a gimmick” – as the money raised in fines will not go to consumers affected. On Monday, Ofwat unveiled sanctions for water companies that do not provide good communication and help to those who face problems such as having no running water. – Guardian
Vodafone has paid out more than $1bn in fees to advisers over the last two decades amid ambitious empire-building followed by a costly retreat. The British telecoms giant has spent huge sums on bankers and lawyers as part of long-running turnaround efforts, with data from Dealogic revealing that “in excess” of a billion dollars has been spent on advisors since 2000. – Telegraph
US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is poised to take control of one of Britain’s largest smart meter suppliers after seeing off an attempt by its founders to scupper the deal. KKR is expected to reveal this week that more than 50pc of shareholders in Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems have backed the takeover, giving them overall control. – Telegraph
The private equity owners of Shawbrook are seeking to revive plans for a float of the bank in a potential boost to the London stock market. Some City investors are understood to have been sounded out about a possible initial public offering of Shawbrook, which was bought by BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital for £868 million in 2017. – The Times
