Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is up to two-week highs at the start of a big news day. The big story yesterday was the Federal Reserve holding US interest rates at their current level, and the market is betting on the Bank of England following suit when it makes its own announcement at noon today.
Looking at the FTSE now and staying in the world of betting its Ladbrokes owner Entain who’s this morning’s biggest faller. They’re blaming some “customer-friendly sports results” in September for a fall in Q3 earnings. September was the month of the Ryder and Solheim Cups, some Rugby world cup games and an unexpected win at the Singapore Grand Prix for Carlos Sainz Jr.
The UK’s 2nd biggest supermarket chain by turnover Sainsburys can expect to generate some profiteering headlines again after forecasting top-end full-year profits due to strong food sales and record market share gains.
Shell shareholders also have something to smile about this morning with the energy giant stepping up its share buyback programme with an extra US$3.5 billion payout plus another US$2.2 billion in quarterly dividends despite a fall in Q3 profits.
Finally in small caps there’s also some good news for drug developer Arecor, which has announced the activation of a milestone payment from Inhibrx, a key step in their ongoing collaboration.