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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London were set to retreat slightly on Monday, in line with equity markets in Asia, at the start of the last week before the Christmas holidays.
Last week saw a rally in stock markets across the globe, thanks to a dovish pivot from the US Federal Reserve, though the FTSE 100 underperformed somewhat. This week, investors will be keeping a close eye on Friday's US personal consumption expenditures price index data - the Fed's preferred metric of inflation.
Another key focal point for the week will be the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision to be announced on Tuesday.
"There is nothing more than a slim probability for the BoJ to exit negative rates this week, but investors are eager to hear further details about how and when the BoJ will leave the negative rate territory," said Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called down 10.4 points, 0.1%, at 7,561.96
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Hang Seng: down 1.1% at 16,612.95
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.6% at 32,758.98
S&P/ASX 200: closed down 0.2% at 7,426.40
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DJIA: closed up 0.2%, at 37,305.16
S&P 500: closed little changed at 4,719.19
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 0.4% at 14,813.92
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EUR: up at USD1.0919 (USD1.0912)
GBP: down at USD1.2689 (USD1.2693)
USD: up at JPY142.26 (JPY141.75)
GOLD: down at USD2,023.33 per ounce (USD2,034.62)
OIL (Brent): up at USD77.31 a barrel (USD76.34)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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Monday's key economic events still to come:
10:00 CET Germany Ifo business climate index
09:30 GMT UK card spending statistics
10:00 EST US NAHB housing market index
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Morgan Stanley cuts Fresnillo to 'underweight' (equal-weight) - price target to 540 (620) pence
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UBS cuts Barratt Developments to 'neutral' (buy) - price target 610 (495) pence
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UBS raises Taylor Wimpey to 'buy' (neutral) - price target 160 (126) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Spirax-Sarco Engineering named Louisa Burdett as its new chief financial officer, with a starting date of July next year. Burdett is currently CFO at Croda International, and has led finance functions at "several large companies" including Meggitt and Victrex. Spirax-Sarco said CFO Nimesh Patel, who was previously announced to be its new CEO, will take the helm of the firm on January 16. Group finance director, Phil Scott, will be interim CFO from that date until Burdett joins the company. Croda International noted Burdett's departure, and said it has begun the search for her successor. Additionally, Croda said adjusted pretax profit was likely to come at the lower end of its guidance of GBP300 million to GBP320 million range, mostly due to recent currency movements, especially in Argentina.
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GSK announced positive headline results from the second part of its phase III trial of Jemperli plus standard-of-care chemotherapy, followed by dostarlimab plus Zejula as maintenance therapy, in adult patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. "The trial, which evaluated this combination against placebo plus chemotherapy followed by placebo, met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival, with a statistically significant and clinically meaningful benefit observed in both the overall patient population and in a subpopulation of patients with mismatch repair proficient/microsatellite stable tumours," GSK explained.
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The Financial Times reported that GSK is looking for some new deals in China. This comes after GSK rebuilt a "very strong" relationship with the government and local companies since a corruption scandal a decade ago, the newspaper said. Chief Commercial Officer Luke Miels told the FT that GSK is working on further deals with Chinese companies after it signed a licensing agreement in October worth up to USD1.5 billion for a cancer drug developed by Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group.
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Frasers Group is in talks to buy Matchesfashion, a luxury clothing retailer, from its private equity owner since 2017, Apax Partners, Sky News reported on Saturday. Citing "City sources", Sky said Frasers is among a small group of bidders that submitted offers early last week. Frasers would likely pay in excess of GBP50 million for Matchesfashion, whose business has struggled, according to Sky, citing an "insider". Sky said fellow London-listed retailer Next also is said to have expressed an interest in buying Matchesfashion.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Games Workshop has entered an agreement with Amazon's Content Services subsidiary for the prospective development of its Warhammer 40,000 universe into films and television series, alongside the associated merchandising rights. The deal grants exclusive rights to Amazon for film and TV series set within the universe, as well as an option for exclusive rights in the Warhammer Fantasy universe down the line. "Games Workshop and Amazon will work together for a period of 12 months to agree creative guidelines for the films and television series to be developed by Amazon. The agreement will only proceed once the creative guidelines are mutually agreed between Games Workshop and Amazon," the UK company said. It added that it will make no change to its forecast for its financial year ending in June. Games Workshop had announce an agreement in principle with Amazon in December last year.
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IP Group has launched a share buy back for up to GBP20 million. The intellectual property investor said the programme came in light of the discount of its share price to its net asset value per share, and it determined now to be "an appropriate time".
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Hollywood Bowl held its annual dividend unchanged and announced plans for a share buyback worth up to GBP10 million. The operator of ten-pin bowling centres reported pretax profit of GBP45.1 million for the financial year that ended September 30, down from GBP46.7 million in financial 2022, which benefited from a reduced rate of value-added tax on bowling.
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Canadian Overseas Petroleum said its non-binding Cole Creek joint venture letter of intent has been terminated, and it plans "no further discussions at this stage". Back in July, COPL had announced the potential joint venture with "an established energy company" to develop and exploit oil reserves at the Cole Creek in Converse and Natrona counties, Wyoming. "The company will provide a further update before year end regarding its strategy relating to the development of its Cole Creek and Barron Flats Shannon Units," COPL said on Monday.
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By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News deputy news editor
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