FTSE 100 closes down 25 at 7,383
GlaxoSmithKline top riser
Bitcoin heading to US$10,000
ONS shows London has biggest gender pay gap
AIM oil producers look well in stockbroker placing report
FTSE 100 finished Cyber Monday almost 26 points lower as sterling firmed a tad and drugs titan GlaxoSmithKline plc (LON:GSK) was the biggest gainer.
It added 1.77% to close at 1,320.5p as Swiss broker and bank UBS upgraded the shares to 'buy' claiming that concerns over earnings declines and dividend sustainability are “overdone”.
FTSE 100 overall finished at 7,383 down 0.35%, while FTSE 250 finished 0.32% lower, or over 63 points, at 18,881.
The biggest laggard on Footsie was Micro Focus International (LON:MCRO), down 3.69% to 2,557p after Deutsche Bank downgraded it to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ on valuation grounds.
In the currency markets, the pound was up 0.13% against the Euro and 0.07% against the US dollar at the time of writing.
3:30pm: FTSE 100 lower heading towards Monday’s close, BA-owner advances
London’s FTSE 100 was lower heading towards Monday’s close, with the benchmark down 14 points or 0.2% at 7,396.
Meanwhile, over in New York, the Dow Jones advanced 66 points or 0.28% higher at 23,624, whereas the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each edged up around 0.1% to 2,605 and 6,895.
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:IAG) was a notable late riser, up 1.3%, on reports that it has ‘won’ the runway slots at Gatwick Airport that were held by Monarch airlines.
The airline has secured the majority of the take-off and landing slots being sold by the administrator of carrier Monarch in a multi-million pound deal, the Press Association reported.
3:15pm: Crude lower on Monday, this week’s OPEC meeting in focus
Oil prices have been among the drivers to the equity markets relative strength of late, though it promises to be a pivotal week for crude.
OPEC’s move to reduce oil output last month buoyed the crude market, and oil company share prices in tow, and on Thursday the producer’s cartel meets again.
Ole Hansen, Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy, in a note, said: “In order to support the price and the continued process of balancing the global oil market, Opec and Russia are widely expected to announce a six to nine month extension when they meet in Vienna this Thursday.
“The combination of a near-record fund long in oil which needs to be fed bullish news in order to be maintained and signs of a pick-up in US production have, however, left Opec with a very delicate task of delivering the result without triggering a price correction.
“If they tighten the market too much, thereby supporting additional price gains, they risk slowing demand while providing further support for the US shale industry.”
Brent crude futures were nearly 1% lower, priced at around US$63.19 per barrel, on Monday afternoon with West Texas Intermediary futures down almost 2% at US$57.85.
1:30pm: Wall Street seen slightly higher – Amazon and eBay to rise on Cyber Monday
Wall Street benchmarks looked mixed ahead of Monday’s open, though realistically one might describe the US markets more as flat.
The Dow Jones is seen rising, up about 8 points, whereas the S&P was indicated only very slightly higher, while the Nasdaq was in negative territory.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock was seen about 0.6% higher in premarket dealing, up 0.64% or US$7.60 changing hands at US$1,186 with just over an hour to go before trading begun on ‘Cyber Monday’.
Shares in eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), meanwhile, rose 0.7% in premarket to US$36.09.
Best Buy, Target and clothing brand Gap Inc were seen positively following initial reports of last week’s Black Friday sales.
The FTSE 100 was down about 6 points, 0.09%, changing hands at 7,402.
12:30pm: FTSE 100 back to parity - GSK, AZN and Aviva all higher
The FTSE 100 had moved back to parity by midday, as the morning’s tentative positivity waned.
Standing at 7,400 the benchmark was down 8 points or 0.12%.
Positive sentiments came even though US dollar weakness was a weight on the City’s big international earners.
Other potential catalysts were present, for those looking for them.
“Sentiment is buoyed by hopes of German grand coalition talks on the horizon, Trump talking up tax cuts after Thanksgiving break, optimism about this week's OPEC meeting, Bitcoin flirting with $10K and news of another Royal wedding,” said Mike van Dulken, , head of research at Accendo Markets.
Defensive stocks such as GlaxoSmithKline plc (LON:GSK), AstraZeneca Plc (LON:AZN), Unilever plc (LON:ULVR) and Vodafone Plc (LON:VOD) were all on positive ground.
Aviva Plc (LON:AV) rose more than 1% on reports that the insurer is planning a £1bn share buyback plan. Chief executive Mark Wilson is expected to reveal the plan at an investor day this week, The Sunday Times reported.
11:15am: FTSE 100 up 26 points, early indications see Wall Street rising too
The FTSE 100 was up around 26 points or 0.36% changing hands at 7,436, though the morning’s exchanges were somewhat meek – at least for the time being.
“It’s been a relatively slow start to what is otherwise likely to be a busy week for the markets, with appearances from prominent central bankers being accompanied by numerous data releases,” said OANDA analyst Craig Erlam.
The analyst added: “US equity markets are poised to open a little higher again on Monday after having recovered in the latter part of last week to trade back at record highs.
“A strong showing for online retailers on Black Friday may have boosted sentiment, with Cyber Monday having the potential to be even better in a sign that the consumer is healthier than other numbers this year have indicated. New home sales from the US will also be in focus today.
“The US dollar is starting the week on the back foot again after coming under significant pressure in the latter part of last week. While progress is being made on tax reforms, traders may well be doubting how quickly they will be enacted and how significant the final draft will be for the economy and therefore interest rates.”
11:00am: AIM oil and gas stocks delivered best placing returns
Junior Oil and Gas stocks delivered AIM’s best returns for primary issue investments, according to a Hybridan report on the placings in the junior market.
A study examining all placings and equity raising for the ten months to the end of October found that oil & gas producers have had the greatest average post placing gains, adding 18% in value following their fundings.
Junior financial services and alternative energy sectors also fared well, gaining 15.8% and 14.4% respectively – although both of those sectors also saw some of the most discounted placing prices.
The average AIM fund raise was for £7.4mln in the ten-month period.
10:45am: ONS shows London has UK’s biggest gender pay gap
The Office for National Statistics has revealed that the so-called ‘gender pay gap’ is largest in London compared to Britain’s other regions.
It marks a complete turnaround, as two decades ago London showed the smallest gap between the genders.
The devolved ‘home nations’ were the closest to gender equality - with Northern Ireland the narrowest at 3.4%, while in Wales and Scotland the gap stands at 6.3% and 6.6%.
“While in 1997 the capital had the narrowest gender pay gap, there has been little improvement since then. Other regions in the UK have seen more movement towards pay equality over time,” the ONS said in a report.
“Women working full-time in London earned 15.1% less per hour, on average, than their male counterparts 20 years ago. This has only narrowed slightly in 2017, to 14.6% in favour of men.
“London is now the region with the biggest pay gap, on average, between male and female full-time workers in the UK.”
10:30am: Bitcoin seen heading for another new high at US$10,000
The Bitcoin cryptocurrency continues to soar, now approaching another significant milestone price of US$10,000.
“It looks like it will hit $10k, it’s only a matter of time now,” said Neil Wilson, senior analyst at ETX Capital.
“We’re seeing strong flows with leveraged traders almost entirely long. While we shouldn’t put too much truck in round numbers, the performance has been mesmerising and it is a sign of sky-high demand.
“The pace of change or momentum is exceptional but has since tailed off with the market pausing for breath and consolidating for another shot higher. Needless to say Bitcoin looks ‘overbought’ based on technical indicators, but not exceptionally so.”
Nicholas Gregory, chief executive of cryptocurrency ‘enabler’ CommerceBlock, in a note, claimed it is inevitable that there’ll be a correction to the Bitcoin price.
Moreover, he reckons a correction is necessary, essential even.
“Real proponents of cryptocurrency aren’t interested in bitcoin’s price,” Gregory said.
“Widespread adoption is the big prize and too much hype only puts ordinary people off.
"Bitcoin passing the $9,000 mark will spark more talk of a crash. However, it’s important to remember that a correction is certain sooner or later.
“A bubble popping and a viable longer term future are not mutually exclusive. We've seen this with the dotcom bubble.”
9:20am: FTSE 100 looking cheerier, up 16 points after turning positive
The FTSE 100 was looking a little cheerier a little over an hour into Monday’s dealing, with the benchmark turning positive – up 16 points, 0.22%, changing hands at around 7,426.
Big blue-chip news was thin on the ground with contract wins (of just £25mln) at Ultra Electronics and some AstraZeneca Plc’s (LON:AZN) commentary on a new lung cancer drug in development providing early prints.
Retail and e-commerce will be somewhat in focus – either from a stock trading standpoint or just as personal distraction from a bland day at the exchange.
Having hyped their way through Black Friday, the next pre-Christmas shopping holiday arrives in the form of ‘Cyber Monday’ – but, there are suggestions that these American-style ‘events’ may have waned somewhat this year.
e-Bay and Amazon are, unsurprisingly, the big name proponents of ‘Cyber Monday’.
Whilst yet to be roaring success here, the Black Friday/ Cyber Monday has undeniable impact – Amazon ended last week gaining 2.6% on Wall Street to set a new record.
In the City, Credit Suisse upgraded utility group National Grid Plc (LON:NG), moving to ‘neutral’ and setting a new target of 860p, and the FTSE 100 share rose nearly 1% higher to trade at 874.8p by around 9:20am.
Pawnbroker and money exchanger Ramsdens Holdings PLC (LON:RFX) gained 2.77% to around 189p as it was upgraded by Liberum Capital – the broker also supported Big Yellow Group Plc (LON:BYG) which was up 1% in early deals.
Shares in Cerillion PLC (LON:CER) - the IT business that’s vowels apart from the troubled builder – were rising by around 3% to 123p after it reported better earnings, an increase in customers and sUBStantially more software revenue.
8:15am: FTSE starts new trading week on the back foot
The FTSE 100 started the final week of November softly, slipping 11 points or 0.15% to start the weeks dealing.
At 8:15am, the blue-chip benchmark was standing at around 7,397.
Proactive news headlines:
Newmark Security PLC (LON:NWT) said its Grosvenor Technology arm has landed a contract worth €3mln over five years. The unnamed customer will fund €190,000 of development work that will be booked in the current financial year.
KEFI Minerals plc (LON:KEFI) is now targeting the start of construction at its Tulu Kapi gold mine in Ethiopia for next year with final commissioning at the end of 2019. A US$135mln debt finance package with infrastructure firm Oryx was agreed in July, which left KEFI to find the final US$24mln through equity funding.
Highlands Natural Resources Plc (LON:HNR) has reported on six months which included a number of milestones, such as the successful drilling at the East Denver project and the ‘transformational’ financings that preceded the programme. The Powell and Wildhorse wells at East Denver are yielding a combined production rate of 1,333 barrels oil equivalent per day, and HNR said volumes continue to rise.
Curzon Energy Plc (LON:CZN) has inked a rig contract for its planned five-well workover programme at the Coos Bay coal bed methane project. Paul Graham Drilling and Services has been hired for the work which aims to enhance the wholly owned project, spanning some 45,000 acres in the State of Oregon.
Aircraft leasing group Avation PLC (LON:AVAP) has delivered a new ATR 72-600 plane to Mandarin Airlines. It is the first such delivery made to Mandarin – a subsidiary of Taiwan’s flag carrier, China Airlines. As part of a deal initially agreed back in July, two other ATR 72-600s will be delivered to Mandarin before the end of the year.
Rambler Metals and Mining PLC (CVE:RAB)(LON:RMM) has hit 102 meters of 1.65% copper, including 35.8 metres of 2.59% copper, in drilling down-dip of the existing resource at its Ming mine in Canada. The diamond drill hole was drilled from surface to a depth of 1,686 meters.
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd has had (LON:CGH) backing for its gold project in the Kyrgyz Republic reaffirmed by the leader of the largest party in the country’s parliament. Martin Andersson, Charaat’s chairman and who has just visited Kyrgyzstan, added that legislation had recently been enacted to enable companies to sign a stabilisation agreement with the government.
Stratex International plc (LON:STI) has confirmed the appointment of mining industry veteran Bob Foster as its new interim chief executive. The appointment had previously been announced on a provisional basis following an extraordinary general meeting which led to the ousting of the previous chief, Marcus Engelbrecht.
6:50am: FTSE 100 set to start on back-foot
The FTSE 100 looks set to start the week in the red, taking its cue from Asia’s main markets.
The index of blue-chip shares will shed around 11 points to 7398.64, according to the spread betting firms.
Overnight there were sell-offs in China and South Korea, with, respectively, a slowdown in industrial profit growth, and a sharp mark-down of tech stocks responsible for the slides.
Closer to home it appears the political uncertainty in Germany is nearing a resolution with Angela Merkel on the cusp of sealing a coalition deal with the Social Democratic Party.
The German chancellor in speech over the weekend said of the SPD, with whom she has worked for three terms, “we did a good job. We worked well together”.
Spanner in the Brexit works
Back here in the UK, Sunday’s political headlines were dominated by Dublin’s hard line over the Irish border which threatens to be another spanner in the Brexit works.
The week’s corporate news appears to be dominated by the mid-caps and the brewing and hospitality sector in particular with updates from Marstons (LON:MARS), Mitchells & Butlers (LON:MAB) and Green King (LON:GNK).
Also expected to report are Daily Mail owner Daily Mail & General Trust (LON:DMGT) and the mixer maker Britvic (LON:BVIC), whose share of the market is being challenged by Fever Tree.
Around the markets:
- Pound worth US$1.3323
- Gold worth US$1,294.80 per ounce, up US$3
- Brent crude costs US$63.85 a barrel, down 1 cent
City Headlines:
Financial Times
Royal Dutch Shell has announced it will work with some of the world’s biggest carmakers to offer high-speed charging points for electric vehicles in 10 European countries.
Standard Chartered is considering another “one or two” aviation finance joint ventures and may list the one it launched in China earlier this year, said Sumit Dayal, the bank’s head of corporate finance.
Some of the world’s largest telecoms investors have warned that proposed European regulations will deter investment just as the industry is under pressure to spend heavily to build faster fibre optic and 5G networks across the continent.
Time Inc has been sold to rival media group Meredith Corporation in a deal valued at US$2.8bn and backed by the Koch brothers, giving the conservative billionaires a stake in one of America’s best-known publishers.
Shares in Nintendo climbed to their highest point in more than nine years in Tokyo on Monday following a record Black Friday shopping day in the US.
Times
Royal Dutch Shell is expected to signal its return to paying its entire dividend in cash this week, in the latest evidence of renewed confidence in the oil industry.
Maplin is bringing forward the publication of its accounts to reassure suppliers that it can pay them, after credit insurers raised doubts over its financial health.
A judge rejected an application from Dan Wagner, the founder of Powa Technologies, to appoint administrators when the business collapsed because of a conflict of interest.
Optimism among companies in the dominant consumer services sector is falling as sales slide and costs jump sharply, the CBI has warned.
Daily Telegraph
LoveFilm and Citymapper backer Balderton on hunt for Europe’s next tech giant having raised US$375mln of new cash.
Black Friday sales failed to tempt shoppers on to high streets, casting new doubt over the wisdom of British stores’ adoption of the US retail event.
Guardian
The Spanish bank Santander will not renew its Formula One sponsorship of Ferrari at the end of this year after spending seven years and £250mln backing the sport’s most illustrious team.
The upmarket grocery chain Booths has reportedly been put up for sale for up to £150mln.
Daily Mail
Owner of Odeon, UK’s biggest cinema chain, dismisses reports that rival Vue is poised for takeover that would create £3bn multiplex giant.
Monarch Airlines’ former customers, staff and business partners unlikely to recoup anything.