ECM.L Share News (ECM)

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to resume the week's rally on Wednesday as the pound continued to slip ahead of the latest UK services Purchasing Managers' Index.In early UK company news, J Sainsbury reported a dip in first quarter sales, JD Sports Fashion said it has continued to see "encouraging" like-for-like sales, and Purplebricks revealed a widened annual loss and plans to exit the US. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 20.61 points higher at 7,579.80 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 61.69 points, or 0.8% higher, at 7,559.19 on Tuesday.The FTSE 100 outperformed on Tuesday, observed Ipek Ozkardeskaya at London Capital Group, as the pound weakened in the wake of a disappointing UK construction Purchasing Managers' Index reading.Focus in the day ahead lies on the last in a trio of UK PMI readings, the all-important services print, due at 0930 BST."A soft figure will likely reinforce the Bank of England doves' call for a softer monetary policy to boost the waning activity, as the country feels the pinch of the global trade tensions and prepares for a tough divorce from the European Union," said Ozkardeskaya."UK stocks remain supported by dovish BoE expectations and a softer pound. But the FTSE 100 will likely lose the backing of the energy stocks in the coming sessions."Sterling was quoted at USD1.2573 early Wednesday, lower compared to USD1.2595 at the London equities close on Tuesday.Already released overnight, business activity in China picked up only marginally during June.The Caixin China Composite PMI, which measures both manufacturing and services, fell to 50.6 in June from 51.5 in May, indicating the weakest economic growth since last October.For June, the seasonally adjusted Chinese Services Business Activity Index fell to 52.0 from 52.7 in May, showing "only a modest" expansion, and the slowest since February."Overall, China's economy came under greater pressure in June. The conflict between China and the US impacted business confidence rather heavily," said Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group, on Wednesday.In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 1.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 0.3% lower.In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.3% and Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.Also in the economic calendar on Wednesday, there are service PMIs from France, Germany and the eurozone at 0850 BST, 0855 BST and 0900 BST respectively. In the US, there are ADP employment at 1315 BST - a precusor to Friday's monthly jobs report - and the services PMI at 1445 BST.In early UK company news, J Sainsbury reported a fall in first quarter sales, with general merchandise and clothing the main drags. Total retail sales in the 16 weeks to June 29 were down 1.2% while like-for-like sales fell 1.6%. Grocery sales fell 0.5% while General Merchandise - which includes Argos - fell 3.1%, with clothing sales down 4.5%. This first quarter like-for-like sales figure marked a deterioration from the 0.9% decline posted for the final quarter of the previous financial year.On its outlook, Sainsbury's noted that retail markets remain "highly competitive and promotional"."We continue to adapt our business to changing shopping habits and made good progress in a challenging market," said Chief Executive Mike Coupe."In a tough trading environment, we gained market share in key General Merchandise categories and in Clothing, where we are now the UK's fifth largest retailer by volume," he added.Electrocomponents reported slower growth in like-for-like sales in the first quarter, and said it continues to expected good progress despite a "more uncertain" backdrop. Like-for-like revenue growth was 4% in the first quarter, slowing from 8% in the final quarter of the previous financial year. Among regions, growth in EMEA was 5%, the Americas flat and Asia Pacific 1%.The engineering firm said it expects a "broadly stable" gross margin in the full-year, given a programme to broaden its electronics inventory is expected to hit margins in the first half. "While the external environment has become more uncertain, we remain well positioned to deliver good progress in the year," said Electrocomponents.JD Sports Fashion said it has continued to see "encouraging" like-for-like sales in the year-to-date, expecting an annual results at least equal to current consensus. As expected, emphasis has been on international development, the company said, opening its sixth store in the US. JD said it remains "encouraged" by its performance in the US to date. Overall in the year-to-date, JD said it has achieved "encouraging" like-for-like sales growth in core Sports Fashion fascias both in the UK and internationally."The board remains confident that the group continues to be on track to deliver headline profit before tax for the full year at least equal to current consensus market expectations," said Chair Peter Cowgill.Serco said subsidiary Serco Geografix has reached an agreement in principle to a deferred prosecution agreement with the UK Serious Fraud Office.The proposed DPA is subject to final judicial approval. If confirmed by the court, this would conclude the SFO's investigation into Serco companies which was first announced in 2013.Serco Geografix, under the proposed DPA, has taken responsibility for three offences of fraud and two of false accounting committed between 2010 and 2013 related to the reporting to the UK Ministry of Justice of the levels of profitability of Serco's Electronic Monitoring contract. Serco Geografix will pay a fine of GBP19.2 million in addition to GBP3.7 million of the SFO's investigation costs. The fine reflects a discount of 50% as a result of Serco's self-reporting, as well as its "significant and substantial cooperation" with the investigation. Chief Executive Rupert Soames said: "Those of us who now run the business are mortified, embarrassed and angry that, in a period between six and nine years ago, Serco understated the level of profitability of its Electronic Monitoring contract in its reports to the Ministry of Justice.""Nobody who sat on the board of Serco Group, or who was part of the executive management team at the time these offences were committed, works for the group today," he emphasised.AIM-listed Purplebricks reported a wider annual loss despite revenue rising sharply, as it revealed plans to exit the US market. Sales grew by 55% to GBP136.5 million in the year to April 30 from GBP87.8 million the year before. However, the company's pretax loss widened to GBP56.0 million from GBP29.2 million.Purplebricks in the year said it took the difficult decisions to exit both the Australian and US markets. In Australia, market conditions become "increasingly challenging". A decision was taken in May to close the business, with this due to be comleted before the end of the year. In the US, meanwhile, the company said it still sees a "significant opportunity" to disrupt the market, but this would take significantly more management time and resources than the company is able to commit at this time. In the US during the year, revenue rose to GBP11.3 million from GBP1.6 million but the firm's operating loss gapped to GBP34.1 million from GBP16.8 million."We have taken the difficult decisions to exit our businesses in both Australia and the US as it is very important that we now focus our resources on the UK and Canada, where we have a strong established presence and where there are significant opportunities to grow market share and deliver profitable growth for shareholders," said Chief Executive Vic Darvey.In Europe, leaders struck a hard-fought summit deal to put women in two of the bloc's most important jobs for the first time.After three days of bitter wrangling, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen was named to replace Jean-Claude Juncker at the head of the European Commission for the next five years. Former French finance minister Christine Lagarde, who has led the International Monetary Fund since 2011, is to take charge at the European Central Bank as fears of an economic slowdown in Europe rattle markets.The package agreed by the 28 EU leaders also sees Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel take over from Tusk at the European Council of member states, while Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell becomes foreign policy chief, replacing Federica Mogherini.The picks, confirmed by summit host and European Council President Donald Tusk, ended difficult talks that had dragged on since Sunday evening, dogged by division and infighting.