(Alliance News) - Equities in London are seen opening slightly lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 on track to surrender all of its weekly gain, according to stock market futures.
Meanwhile, equities in Tokyo weakened into the session close following the shooting of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 32.8 points lower, 0.5%, at 7,156.28. The blue chip index closed up 81.31 points, or 1.1%, at 7,189.08 on Friday. The FTSE has advanced 0.3% so far this week.
In UK corporate news, student accommodation manager Unite Group said room sales for the upcoming academic year are ahead of pre-virus levels at this stage, JD Sports has named a new chair and housebuilder Vistry said its first half outturn topped expectations.
Unite hailed its "good progress in sales" during the second quarter, noting decent demand from both domestic and international students.
Unite said 90% of its rooms are now sold for the 2022/23 academic year, compared to 81% at this stage a year earlier. It is also ahead of the 89% at this stage ahead of the 2019/20 year, prior to the onset of the pandemic.
Unite added: "We have also seen positive progress in pricing, particularly in the second half of the sales cycle as concerns around the impact of the Omicron Covid-19 variant have eased. This progress has been driven by inflation-linked rental uplifts for our multi-year nomination agreements and the strength of demand for direct-let beds. Given the strong sales performance to date, we are increasingly confident in delivering occupancy of 97% for the 2022/23 academic year and achieving rental growth at or just above the top end of our guidance of 3.0-3.5%."
The company is mindful of the Covid-19 situation in China and the potential of tighter travel curbs for international students. At the moment, however, there are no Covid-19 restrictions in UK higher education.
Athleisure retailer JD Sports said it has named Andy Higginson as chair, following an "extensive search process".
Higginson was formerly chair of supermarket chain Wm Morrison, from 2015 until its private equity takeover in November. He is also currently a senior independent director at Flutter.
In June, the firm shared that the process to recruit a new non-executive chair was "progressing at pace", and "a number of high calibre candidates" for chief executive are under consideration.
In May, Peter Cowgill left as executive chair with immediate effect. JD Sports in July 2021 had bowed to shareholder pressure over its corporate governance, agreeing to split its chair and CEO roles.
Cowgill had served as both executive chair and CEO of JD Sports, since taking up the latter position in 2014.
Housebuilder Vistry reported an "excellent first half performance" which topped expectations.
"Demand has been strong across all areas of the business and our forward sales positions further strengthened," CEO Greg Fitzgerald commented.
"Whilst mindful of the wider economic uncertainties, we are positive on the outlook for the group and expect to see significant margin progression in the full year."
Adjusted pretax profit is expected to be at the top end of market forecasts, around GBP417.0 million. Its adjusted gross margin is expected to be ahead of its 23% target.
First half completions increased to 3,219 units from 3,126 a year earlier.
Vistry said planning "remains the single most significant constraint on the business". It noted a tricky political and regulatory environment, particularly around nutrient neutrality.
"We are responding proactively by factoring longer lead times into our site forecasting, which enhances our control, and increasing our senior expertise in these areas. Our strong balance sheet and breadth of operations provide confidence and resilience to cope with any specific issues," Vistry added.
Elsewhere in London, healthcare software maker EMIS said trading in the six months to June 30 went in line with board expectations.
"In Emis Health, the group is continuing to support its customers across the NHS while accelerating investment in its technology and cloud refresh strategy as well as in improved internal systems. As expected, revenue growth was held back by a planned reduction in lower margin resale partner activities. However, the business will benefit from a number of digitisation contracts which were secured for delivery in the second half of the year," Emis explained.
"In Emis Enterprise, the group continues to execute in the areas of analytics, patient-facing services and pharmacy, with encouraging contributions from the two acquisitions completed in the period adding to double-digit organic growth in revenues in the first half."
Emis in June agreed to a GBP1.24 billion takeover offer from Minnesota, US-based healthcare and insurance company UnitedHealth Group.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was marginally lower, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 0.3% higher. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.5%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed 0.1% higher, well off session highs.
"Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 am," in the country's western region of Nara, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.
"One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown."
Local media including national broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said the former prime minister appeared to be in "cardiorespiratory arrest," a term often used in Japan before a feared death can be officially confirmed by a coroner.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY135.63 early Friday UK time, down from JPY135.91 late Thursday, but up from an overnight low of JPY135.36.
"If the former PM's Liberal Democratic Party continues to hold the advantage in the election, this morning's moves will likely prove temporary. The follow-through to Japanese equities and USDJPY is negative for now," SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2008 early Friday in London, up from USD1.2002 late Thursday. The euro stood at USD1.0167, down from USD1.0172.
In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 1.1%, the S&P 500 surged 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.3%.
The economic events calendar on Friday has the closely-watched US jobs report for June at 1330 BST.
Employment growth has been forecast to slow to 268,000 jobs in June, from 390,000 in May, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.
Focus remains on politics in the UK, as would-be contenders to claim the Tory crown assess whether they have the support to mount leadership bids following the dramatic resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday.
With no clear frontrunner, around a dozen potential candidates – including backbenchers as well as ministers – are thought to be weighing a challenge.
Meanwhile, there is growing pressure from senior Conservatives for Johnson to immediately step down as prime minister and not wait for the election of a new leader.
At a meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday, Johnson sought to reassure ministers he would not seek to implement any new policies in his remaining time in office and would leave any major tax and spending decisions to the next prime minister.
But after he made clear his frustration at the way he had been forced out by an unprecedented wave of ministerial resignations, many in the party remain deeply suspicious of his intentions.
Brent oil was quoted at USD105.10 a barrel, down from USD105.66. Gold stood at USD1,743.70 an ounce, up from USD1,742.44.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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