Good morning. The FTSE 100 was on track for its sharpest fall in over a month yesterday, but a steadily declining pound, which was sat at near two-week lows against the dollar at the end of London trading, offered support to the blue-chip index.
)
5 things to start your day
1) Production of cars from UK factories has risen for the first time in 15 months –but only because normal production schedules were skewed by shutdowns as companies braced for the impact of Brexit. A total of 92, 158 cars rolled off British production lines in August, a rise of 3.3pc on the same month a year ago.
2)Sainsbury’s is to shut up to 125 stores as part of a review of its operationsin a move it hopes will improve profits by £ 20 Year. The announcement came as it revealed a 0.2pc fall in like-for-like retail sales in the (weeks to Sept) , excluding fuel sales.
3) Some of the world’s richest businessmenhave lost almost £ 400 m in just five months after stepping into shore up ailing Metro Bank. Billionaire hedge fund chief Steven Cohen was among those to bag what analysts dubbed “a bargain” during the bank’s cash call in May when it issued stock at 500 pa share.
4)Rescues, reforms and trade wars: the challenges facing new IMF chief. After outstripping rivals including the former Chancellor George Osborne and the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Kristalina Georgieva will be confirmed as the 12 th managing director of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday.
5) Tesco isaxing the first Jack’s a year after the supermarket giant unveiled the discount chainthat is meant to help it take on the likes of Aldi and Lidl. The Rawtenstall store was opened earlier this year to see if a so-called “bulk buy store” would attract shoppers.
What happened overnight
Asian stocks rose on Thursday as hopes the United States and China may soon end their year-long trade war boosted demand for riskier assets while worries about a US presidential impeachment bid ebbed.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0. 13 PC. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0. 40 pc. Chinese blue-chip shares advanced 0. 20 PC. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 0. 16 percent, or 48 points, to 25, 985. 83.
The optimism over trade pushed market concerns about U.S. political risks into the background, a day after Democrat lawmakers said they will open an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with his Ukraine counterpart.
US stock futures were down 0. 03 pc early in Asia, following a 0. 62 pc increase in the S&P 500 on Wednesday.
Coming up today
Following the £ 2.7bn takeover of Greene King by Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, there has been renewed chatter about the state of Britain’s biggest pub chains. Summer 2019 offered few of the benefits of the year before, however, with worse weather and nothing to match the massive customer draw of England’s football World Cup run.
Expect a fall in like-for-like sales and beer volumes from Mitchells & Butlers in its fourth quarter update, but keep an eye on profits – where the company positively surprised earlier this year.
Full-year results:DFS
Interim results:Allied Minds
Trading update:Mitchells & Butlers, Mitie, SSE, SSP, Stagecoach
Economics:GDP, jobless claims (US)
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings