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(Alliance News) - Budget airline easyJet will return to the FTSE 100 following the quarterly index review announced after the London market close on Wednesday.
Joining it, put possibly only briefly, is bid target Just Eat.
The pair replace insurer Hiscox and miner Fresnillo from December 23. They are demoted to the FTSE 250, though one may be promoted again if Just Eat is taken out.
Meanwhile, the pound remained elevated as the forex market bets on a solid Conservative party majority from the UK general election, now only a week away.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open on Thursday:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 7,181.55
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Hang Seng: up 0.6% at 26,217.04
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 23,300.09
DJIA: closed up 146.97 points, 0.5%, at 27,649.78
S&P 500: closed up 0.6% at 3,112.76
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GBP: up at USD1.3131 (USD1.3118)
EUR: soft at USD1.1083 (USD1.1087)
Gold: up at USD1,475.89 per ounce (USD1,473.24)
Oil (Brent): down at USD62.90 a barrel (USD63.26)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria
0900 GMT UK SMMT car registration figures
1100 GMT Ireland industrial production and turnover
1100 CET EU retail trade
1100 CET EU gross domestic product
1100 CET EU employment
0730 EST US Challenger job-cut report
0830 EST US international trade in goods & services
0830 EST US initial jobless claims
1000 EST US manufacturers' shipments, inventories & orders
1030 EST US EIA weekly natural gas storage report
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The UK Conservative party has promised to cut taxes for families in a post-Brexit February budget as the party set out their plan for the first 100 days of government. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 2020 will be "the year we finally put behind us the arguments and uncertainty over Brexit" if the Tories get a majority at the general election next week. The plan has been branded "pure fantasy" and the prime minister has been accused of lying to the public, with the Liberal Democrats saying that a Tory government would "remain completely consumed by Brexit not just for the next 100 days, but for years to come". The Tories said a Conservative government would announce its legislative programme on December 19 in a new Queen's Speech, adding that they would bring back the EU Withdrawal Act Bill before Christmas with all Conservative MPs backing the legislation. Before 100 days have passed, the Tories said they would have delivered a "post-Brexit Budget" in February which will cut taxes for families.
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German factory orders fell at a slower-than-expected annual pace in October, though showed a surprise monthly fall. Destatis on Thursday said new manufacturing orders fell 5.5% year-on-year in October, faster than the 5.0% reported for September but not quite as bad as the 6.1% fall forecast by analysts, according to FXStreet. On a monthly basis, though, orders fell 0.4%. This followed a 1.5% rise in September and diverged from consensus of a 0.3% rise.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled USD120 billion in stimulus measures, to help the world's third largest economy overcome the aftermath of the nation's recent natural disasters. The package is also aimed at helping the nation alleviate the impact of last month's tax hike and survive a potential economic slowdown after an Olympic boom. "We will introduce a daring fiscal policy worth JPY13 trillion," Abe told ministers and party leaders at the prime minister's office. The package, expected to be endorsed at a cabinet meeting later in the day, totals some JPY26 trillion if spending by the private sector is counted, according to public broadcaster NHK and other local media.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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COMMERZBANK CUTS TUI TO 'HOLD' (BUY) - PRICE TARGET 13 (14) EUR
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LIBERUM CUTS BERKELEY GROUP TO 'SELL' ('HOLD')
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RBC INITIATES M&G WITH 'SECTOR PERFORM' - TARGET 240 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Packaging firm DS Smith reported a robust rise in profit, helped by acquisitions. Revenue for the six months to October 31 rose 4% to GBP3.19 billion, while pretax profit was up 31% to GBP213 million. The company lifted its interim dividend by 4% in response to 5.4 pence per share. The revenue rise was principally due to acquisitions, DS Smith said, which was partially offset by lower volumes and sales prices within the paper and recycling businesses. "Assuming current macro-economic conditions prevail, we anticipate an acceleration of volume growth in the second half of the year which, together with the resilience of our business model, supports our expectation of further growth in the year," said Chief Executive Miles Roberts.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Home furnishings retailer Dunelm lifted its annual profit outlook as it reported strong margins, a successful transition of customers to its new digital platform, and well contained costs. Dunelm said it now has a modern, flexible, cloud-native platform that will be used to accelerate the development of its customer proposition. "Customers have responded well to the new website, and we are delighted that during this critical transition period we did not see any adverse impact to our performance, maintaining our strong sales growth both online and in stores," said Dunelm. In addition, gross margins have been stronger than expected as a result of sourcing gains and better sell through, the retailer said, while operational costs well "well controlled". As a result, Dunelm expects annual pretax profit to be higher than previous expectations, though this comes with the assumption that there is no significant change in consumer demand following the UK general election next week.
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IG Group Holdings said half-year net trading revenue is expected to be broadly flat. Net trading revenue for the first half of its financial year is expected around GBP250 million, compared to GBP251 million a year ago. The comparative period benefited from two months of trading prior to European regulatory intervention measures came into effect, however. Revenue in core markets is expected to be around GBP210 million, down 6% on last year. The core business served, on average, 78,500 over-the-counter leveraged clients per quarter in its core markets in the first half, 4% higher than that seen in the second half of the 2019 financial year.
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COMPANIES - OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Daily Mail & General Trust reported a sharp fall in interim profit on non-repeating disposal gains. Revenue was flat at GBP1.34 billion in the half-year to September 30, but pretax profit slumped to GBP134 million from GBP707 million. However, in the prior year, the company was boosted by GBP658 million in profit on the sale of assets. Adjusted pretax profit for the half-year fell 21% to GBP145 million from GBP182 million. In the Consumer Media division - which houses newspapers the Metro, the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday as well as MailOnline - revenue was up 2% on an underlying basis. Growth in MailOnline and DailyMailTV helped to offset a 3% decrease in circulation revenue and a 1% decline in print advertising sales. The cash operating income margin and operating margin for the division will reflect a mix of an expected underlying revenue reduction, the benefit of continued cost efficiencies within the newspapers, MailOnline's growing profitability and the inclusion of the 'i', the company said. DMGT last Friday had announced the purchase of the i newspaper from JPI Media for GBP49.6 million in cash.
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Boohoo Group founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane have sold a combined total of 50 million shares in the fast fashion retailer via an accelerated share bookbuild, placing managers Zeus Capital and Jefferies International said. This represents a 4.3% stake in the company. The shares were sold at 285p each, with the stock closing at 297.10p on Wednesday. boohoo on Tuesday reported a record performance over the Black Friday weekend, and said trading since its half-year end in August had remained strong. Following the sale, Kane continues to hold a 2.7% stake and Kamani 13.1%.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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In the midst of a crisis over the status of its 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing's chief engineer is going into retirement, the company told workers on Wednesday. John Hamilton had planned to retire last year, but was asked to stay to help with the 737 MAX investigations, Boeing bosses Stan Deal and Greg Hyslop wrote in a memo to staff seen by dpa. Hamilton was tasked with crisis management for the US manufacturer after two high-profile crashes of 737 MAX aircraft which killed 346 people. He was by the side of the company's CEO Dennis Muilenburg when he appeared in hearings in US Congress on the background of the accidents which led to Boeing's bestselling aircraft being grounded. Hamilton worked for the company for 35 years, and his successor will be high-ranking engineer Lynne Hopper.
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Walt Disney declared a USD0.88 per share semi-annual cash dividend, taking total dividends for its financial year to USD1.76 per share when combined with the USD0.88 dividend paid in July. The maker of Frozen 2 paid an interim dividend of the same amount for its previous year, although its previous July dividend was lower at USD0.84 per share. Walt Disney Chair & Chief Executive Robert Iger said: "This has been a monumental year for the Walt Disney Co, marked by the launch of our new streaming service Disney+ and the completion of our acquisition of 21st Century Fox. We are pleased to deliver another substantial dividend to shareholders as we continue to invest in the company's future."
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings
NMC Health (re renumeration policy)
Softcat
MJ Gleeson
BATM Advanced Communications
Nanoco Group
BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust
Sabien Technology
Sanditon Investment Trust
Kin & Carta
Henderson International Income Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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