If you would like to ask our webinar guest speakers from WS Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund a question please submit them here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksBT Share News (BT.A)

Share Price Information for BT (BT.A)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 110.80
Bid: 110.75
Ask: 110.85
Change: 1.85 (1.70%)
Spread: 0.10 (0.09%)
Open: 109.35
High: 111.15
Low: 109.35
Prev. Close: 108.95
BT.A Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks and dollar up on US debt ceiling optimism

Thu, 18th May 2023 12:33

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were higher at midday on Thursday as growing confidence about US debt ceiling negotiations helped to lift market mood, buttressed by some strong individual shares performances from the likes of Aston Martin and Genuit.

The FTSE 100 index was up 47.76 points, or 0.6%, at 7,770.99. The FTSE 250 was up 98.35 points, or 0.5%, at 19,313.80, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.39 points, or 0.3%, at 811.59.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.6% at 776.71, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 16,883.26, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.6% at 13,588.50.

"The narrative around US debt-limit negotiations has continued to gradually improve. President Biden has remained optimistic about reaching a deal, but markets are primarily following House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's comments on the issue. He has changed his own rhetoric from stressing the two sides remained far apart to saying that achieving a deal is doable," said Francesco Pesole at ING.

On Wednesday, Biden said he was "confident" that the two sides will reach an agreement on the budget and that America "will not default".

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had said on Monday that new data reinforced her previous warning of a possible US debt default on June 1 if Congress fails to raise the ceiling on borrowing.

The dollar strengthened on the back of the renewed optimism for a political accommodation, having previously also benefited as a safe-haven on worries about a default.

The pound was quoted at USD1.2429 at midday on Thursday in London, lower compared to USD1.2474 at the close on Wednesday.

The euro stood at USD1.0808, lower against USD1.0826. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY137.77, higher compared to JPY137.47.

Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite also up 0.2%.

In London, BT Group was the worst blue-chip performer at midday, down 8.7%, as it reported a decline in annual profit and announced it will cut its workforce by as much as 55,000 staff by 2030.

The telecommunications provider said it will reduce its number of workers to between 75,000 and 90,000 by financial years 2028 to 2030 from 130,000 currently. This is a reduction of between 31% and 42%.

The plan is likely to stoke the ire of BT's unionised workers. Last year, they walked out during industrial action by unions including the Communications Workers Union.

BT said pretax profit in the financial year that ended March 31 fell 12% to GBP1.73 billion from GBP1.96 billion. Revenue edged down 0.8% to GBP20.68 billion from GBP20.85 billion. This was 0.8% higher than the GBP20.51 billion estimated by Financial Times-cited market consensus, however.

Burberry shares lost 6.5%, despite the return of tourists and the reopening of China providing an expected boost to the luxury retailer's annual results.

The British fashion house reported revenue of GBP3.09 billion for the year ended April 1, increasing 9.5% from GBP2.83 billion the year prior. Pretax profit was GBP634 million, increasing 24% from GBP511 million.

AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould said that the fact that Burberry hasn't lifted its guidance for the new financial year after reporting such a strong set of results, amid reference to it being "mindful" of the macroeconomic environment, appear to have been the "trigger" for some investors to take profits in the stock.

JD Sports was the top blue-chip performer at midday, up 5.3% after finishing 3.7% lower on Wednesday as it reported lower annual profit.

In the FTSE 250, Aston Martin was the star performer, up 15% at 265.60p.

The luxury carmaker said that has received a "substantial investment" from Chinese vehicle manufacturer Geely International.

Geely will raise its stake in Aston Martin to 17%, buying 42 million existing shares at 335p from Yew Tree, who will remain a major shareholder. It will subscribe for 28 million new shares at the same price.

In total, the investment is about GBP234 million. Aston Martin will receive around GBP95 million in cash from the subscription.

The purchase price represents a 45% premium to the closing price on Wednesday, being the last day before the announcement.

Genuit jumped 11% as the water, climate and ventilation solutions firm reported revenue in line with expectations at the start of the year on cost saving initiatives.

For the four months ended April 30, the company reported group revenue of GBP201.0 million, down 3.8% from GBP209.0 million year-on-year.

Genuit said this was in line with its expectations. It attributed the decline to market-driven volume decline of around 11%, offset by management of inflationary pressures through pricing.

Future plunged 15%. The magazine publisher reported that profit fell and its revenue flattened in the half-year that ended March 31.

Future reported an 18% fall in pretax profit to GBP66.4 million from GBP81.0 million. Revenue was flat at GBP404.7 million, versus GBP404.3 million a year prior.

Looking forward, Future said it expects full-year performance to be towards the bottom end of current market expectations, with difficult market conditions hurting audiences.

Elsewhere in London, Petrofac added 13% after it said a joint venture that it leads has been selected for a USD1.5 billion petrochemical engineering, procurement and construction project in Algeria.

The award for the contract was by Step Polymers, which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Sonatrach, Algeria's national state-owned oil company.

On AIM, MyHealthChecked surged 22%.

The consumer home-testing healthcare company said it has signed a contract with Boots UK to launch an extended range of its products on boots.com and across Boots stores in the UK. Under the agreement, Boots will stock 14 of MyHealthChecked's different test panels, launching from May this year.

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 1.6% higher.

Brent oil was quoted at USD76.78 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday, up from USD75.96 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted at USD1,977.10 an ounce, lower against USD1,982.40.

Still to come in Thursday's economic calendar, the US weekly unemployment claims report is published at 1330 BST.

By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

More News
31 Jul 2023 08:56

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks down; BT appoints Allison Kirkby as boss

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Monday, as investors eye some key data from the eurozone due out this morning.

Read more
31 Jul 2023 08:36

TOP NEWS: BT appoints Telia CEO Allison Kirkby to lead company

(Alliance News) - BT Group PLC on Monday named Allison Kirkby as its new chief executive officer, about three weeks after the company officially started its search for a new CEO.

Read more
31 Jul 2023 07:48

LONDON BRIEFING: BT names Kirkby as new CEO; Pearson profit up

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to start the week on the back foot, after new data showed that the Chinese manufacturing sector continued to slump in July.

Read more
31 Jul 2023 07:45

BT Group appoints Allison Kirkby as CEO

(Sharecast News) - BT Group said on Monday that it has appointed Allison Kirkby as chief executive, succeeding Philip Jansen around the end of January 2024 at the latest.

Read more
27 Jul 2023 15:44

UK dividends calendar - next 7 days

Friday 28 July 
3i Group PLCdividend payment date
abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust PLCdividend payment date
abrdn Smaller Companies Income Trust PLCdividend payment date
Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities PLCdividend payment date
Big Yellow Group PLCdividend payment date
British Land Co PLCdividend payment date
Edinburgh Investment Trust PLCdividend payment date
Gooch & Housego PLCdividend payment date
Helical PLCdividend payment date
Henderson High Income Trust PLCdividend payment date
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltddividend payment date
JPMorgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust PLCdividend payment date
Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust PLCdividend payment date
Paragon Banking Group PLCdividend payment date
Personal Assets Trust PLCspecial dividend payment date
Personal Assets Trust PLCdividend payment date
Polar Capital Holdings PLCdividend payment date
Premier Foods PLCdividend payment date
Real Estate Credit Investments Ltddividend payment date
Schroder Income Growth Fund PLCdividend payment date
Shires Income PLCdividend payment date
Troy Income & Growth Trust PLCdividend payment date
Vertu Motors PLCdividend payment date
Monday 31 July 
CT Private Equity Trust PLCdividend payment date
European Assets Trust PLCdividend payment date
Lowland Investment Co PLCdividend payment date
Tuesday 1 August 
discoverIE Group PLCdividend payment date
F&C Investment Trust PLCdividend payment date
Johnson Matthey PLCdividend payment date
Mercantile Investment Trust PLCdividend payment date
Next PLCdividend payment date
TR Property Investment Trust PLCdividend payment date
United Utilities Group PLCdividend payment date
Wednesday 2 August 
Tate & Lyle PLCdividend payment date
Thursday 3 August 
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
Aptitude Software Group PLCex-dividend payment date
Atrato Onsite Energy PLCex-dividend payment date
Axiom European Financial Debt Fund Ltdex-dividend payment date
Brunner Investment Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
BT Group PLCex-dividend payment date
Caledonia Investments PLCdividend payment date
CML Microsystems PLCex-dividend payment date
Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
Foxtons Group PLCex-dividend payment date
Games Workshop Group PLCex-dividend payment date
GB Group PLCdividend payment date
Inchcape PLCex-dividend payment date
Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets Ltdex-dividend payment date
Jupiter Fund Management PLCex-dividend payment date
Jupiter Fund Management PLCspecial ex-dividend payment date
Lloyds Banking Group PLCex-dividend payment date
M&G Credit Income Investment Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
Mobico Group PLCex-dividend payment date
Moneysupermarket.com Group PLCex-dividend payment date
Nichols PLCex-dividend payment date
Oxford Instruments PLCex-dividend payment date
Picton Property Income Ltdex-dividend payment date
Polar Capital Global Financials Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust PLCex-dividend payment date
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLCex-dividend payment date
Rentokil Initial PLCex-dividend payment date
Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Ltdex-dividend payment date
Starwood European Real Estate Finance Ltdex-dividend payment date
Tyman PLCex-dividend payment date
Unilever PLCex-dividend payment date
Vesuvius PLCex-dividend payment date
WH Smith PLCdividend payment date
  
Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Read more
27 Jul 2023 10:11

TOP NEWS: BT reaffirms full year guidance, posts quarterly profit rise

(Alliance News) - BT Group PLC on Thursday reaffirmed its full year guidance reporting a rise in revenue and profit in its first quarter.

Read more
27 Jul 2023 07:41

BT Group backs full-year guidance as Q1 core earnings rise

(Sharecast News) - BT Group backed its guidance for 2024 on Thursday as it posted a rise in first-quarter core earnings.

Read more
24 Jul 2023 16:59

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: FTSE 100 shakes off weak PMI readings

(Alliance News) - Blue-chip European equities took confidence from a decent open in New York, despite some less-than-stellar PMI data darkening the mood earlier on Monday.

Read more
24 Jul 2023 12:04

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: China stimulus impatience keeps lid on sentiment

(Alliance News) - Equity prices in Europe were mixed heading into Monday afternoon, with a warning of the challenges facing the Chinese economy hurting investor sentiment at the start of a busy week of central banking action.

Read more
13 Jul 2023 17:16

Fresh M&A blow for telcos as Three/O2 debate reopened

BRUSSELS, July 13 (Reuters) - European telecoms companies faced fresh regulatory uncertainty on Thursday after the EU's top court scrapped a lower tribunal's decision to life a veto on Three UK's 13-billion-pound ($16.9 billion) bid for O2 seven years ago, citing legal errors.

Read more
11 Jul 2023 16:00

Teen hacked Uber, Revolut and Grand Theft Auto maker, London court hears

LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - A teenage member of the Lapsus$ hacking group hacked Uber and fintech firm Revolut then blackmailed the developers of best-selling videogame Grand Theft Auto, prosecutors have told a London court.

Read more
10 Jul 2023 17:30

UK's FTSE 100 gains on energy boost; real estate stocks slip

Water utility firms rise on Thames Water news

*

Read more
10 Jul 2023 17:02

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: FTSE 100 rises despite tame Chinese data

(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 in London inched higher on Monday, as investors shook off some soft Chinese data and looked ahead to a US inflation reading due on Wednesday.

Read more
10 Jul 2023 11:48

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: DWF surges on takeover offer; BT CEO resigns

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday on Monday, with concerns around the Chinese economy hurting investor confidence.

Read more
10 Jul 2023 11:25

BT boss Jansen to step down within the next year

BT boss who spearheaded fibre roll-out to step down

*

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.