(Alliance News) - Positive indications from the US over the progress of trade talks between the US and China look set to lead to a higher open on Friday in London.
On the London Stock Exchange, Amerisur Resources, Carpetright and Eddie Stobart Logistics all have agreed to be purchased, while TalkTalk Telecom has moved back into profit.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 26.2 points higher at 7,318.96. The blue-chip index closed down 58.45 points, or 0.8%, at 7,292.76.
White House adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday said the long-awaited mini trade deal with China was on track as part of a wider pact.
"The deal is not complete but we've made enormous progress," he told reporters, adding the talks were "coming down to the short strokes".
Kudlow's comments follow a week of unease about the much-vaunted talks, after Trump dismissed Chinese claims of a plan to roll back tariffs as the negotiations progress, while reports said Beijing was uneasy about some aspects of the developing deal.
"Maybe, just maybe, we are finally nearing a long-awaited indication from President Trump that the protracted period of market adversity is mercilessly nearing its end," said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended broadly flat, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending flat, the S&P 500 up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite also closing flat.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed 0.7% higher on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.1%.
The US economy is a global standout at the moment, showing none of the signs of trouble that have preceded other recessions, at least not yet, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.
On a day when Germany and China each reported growth in the latest quarter of just 0.1%, Powell said, "the US economy is the star economy these days" with growth of about 2%.
And "there is no reason to think that cannot continue", he told the House Budget Committee, quickly adding that he was worried about "jinxing" the outlook.
In the final day of back-to-back appearances before Congress, Powell noted that while US manufacturing is in recession – partly due to lingering trade tensions – the consumer remains strong.
In early UK corporate news, FTSE 250 telecommunications firm TalkTalk Telecom reported a 0.9% drop in revenue for the half-year to September, to GBP764 million.
Pretax profit was GBP4 million excluding an accounting change, and GBP1 million including the new accounting standard, from a GBP4 million pretax loss a year before.
TalkTalk said the fall in revenue was in part due to a decline from Carrier operations. Fibre net adds rose 52% to 292,000, including a record 174,000 new customers in the second quarter.
TalkTalk, which held annual earnings guidance, said it was "pleased" with profit performance. It has kept the interim dividend flat at 1.0 pence per share.
Publisher Future reported a 70% rise in revenue for the year to September to GBP221.5 million in what it described as a "transformational" year. Organic growth was 11%, with the rest provided by a number of acquisitions. Future described the results as "outstanding".
Future's pretax profit approximately trebled to GBP12.7 million, with the adjusted figure also roughly trebling to GBP50.3 million.
Future, which did not pay an interim dividend, has proposed a 1p per share payout for the year. It restarted dividend payments this time last year after a five-year hiatus, returning 0.5p.
Elsewhere, oil firm Amerisur Resources has agreed a GBP242 million takeover by GeoPark, a Latin American oil and gas firm which has assets in Colombia, where Amerisur is focused, as well as several other countries in the region.
GeoPark is paying 19.21 pence per Amerisur share, a 59% premium to Amerisur's closing price in mid-July when an offer period began of 12.1p. It is a 6.7% premium to Amerisur's price at the close in London on Thursday of 18.00p.
Eddie Stobart Logistics confirmed it has agreed a deal with DBAY Advisors which will take a 51% in the holding company which owns the logistics firm's operating assets, injecting GBP55 million of new funding at the same time.
Eddie Stobart is continuing with preparing results for the six months to May 2019, though it cannot say when they will be published. New adjustments means earnings before interest and tax will be a net loss of at least GBP12 million, and a full year Ebit profit will be no more than GBP2 million.
Carpetright has agreed takeover deal by Meditor Holdings, which already owns just under 30% of the company.
Meditor is paying 5p per Carpetright share it does not own, which values the struggling carpet retailer at GBP15.2 million. The company said the deal is "the only viable route" to make Carpetright a sustainable entity going forward.
Construction firm Kier, which was demoted from the FTSE 250 back in June, said it is trading in line with expectations, and it is on track with cost savings, including cutting headcount by 1,200 by June next year. It has been awarded GBP1 billion of new work since June this year, it added.
Chief Operating Officer Claudio Veritiero is leaving with immediate effect, Kier said. It is looking for his replacement, alongside an existing search for a new chair.
Digital visual effects, animation, and stereo conversion company DNEG has postponed its initial public offering, it said, due to "ongoing market uncertainty". It had been targeting raising over GBP100 million, with a market capitalisation of around GBP666 million.
The economic calendar on Friday has eurozone inflation at 1000 GMT and US retail sales at 1330 GMT.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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