LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are seen opening flat on Thursday amid continuing worries over global trade tensions and emerging market woes, while
Melrose Industries said trading was in line following its purchase of GKN, and
Bovis Homes announced its first special dividend payment. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 3.28 points lower at 7,380.00. The blue chip index closed down 1.0% at 7,383.28 on Wednesday, its lowest level since late April.In early UK corporate news, industrial turnaround specialist
Melrose Industries said trading is in line with the board's expectations for 2018.For the half year ended June 30, statutory revenue rose to GBP2.93 billion from GBP1.08 billion last year. On a pro-forma basis, including recent acquisition GKN for the full period, revenue was GBP6.20 billion. Adjusted pretax profit came in at GBP240 million from GBP131 million last year, but on a statutory basis the company posted a loss of GBP276 million, due to costs of buying engineer GKN, a deal completed in April. On a pro-forma basis, including GKN for the whole period, pretax profit was GBP401 million.Melrose declared an interim dividend of 1.55 pence up from 1.4p last year. "Whilst we are still in the early days of our GKN ownership, significant progress has already been made. We have significantly reduced central functions and agreed strategic plans with operational management, who are now focused on implementation. Our work with them to date has reinforced our belief in the scope for improvement in the GKN businesses as well as the timeline necessary for achieving it," said Melrose Chairman Christopher Miller.Budget airline
easyJet reported a rise in the number of passengers carried in August, up 5.6% to 8.6 million from 8.2 million last year. easyJet's load factor for August was 93.6% up from 92.3% last year.Housebuilder
Bovis Homes Group said it reported strong half-year results ahead of management's expectations,For the half year ended June 30, the company reported revenue increased to GBP432.2 million from GBP427.8 million last year as pretax profit surged 41% to GBP60.2 million from GBP42.7 million last year. Total completions in the first half also rose 4% to 1,580 from 1,512 the year before.Bovis lifted its interim dividend 27% to 19p from 15p last year. In addition, the company rewarded its shareholders with its first special dividend of 45p per share - to be paid alongside the interim payout in November."We delivered a strong performance in the half with a more than 40% increase in profits. This reflects the excellent progress made across all business areas over the past 18 months and a step change in the quality of the homes we are building and level of service we are providing our customers. We are confident in the outlook for the business and are targeting a record year of profits in 2018, at the top end of the board's expectations," said Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald.Worries that US President Donald Trump intends to impose tariffs on another USD200 billion worth of Chinese imports as soon as a public comment period ends on Thursday has weighed on equities.Moreover, emerging market woes also have soured investor sentiment as South Africa slipped into a technical recession for the first time since 2009 and Turkey reported its highest inflation rate in 15 years.After the market close on Wednesday were released the results of the latest FTSE quarterly index review, which were based on Tuesday's closing prices.FTSE Russell, which operates the FTSE indices, confirmed that the FTSE 100 index remained unchanged for the first time since 2006.Elsewhere, antivirus software maker Avast, online trading company Plus500, downstream petroleum company Vivo Energy and loans company Amigo Holdings were promoted to the FTSE 250.Conversely, waste management company Renewi, retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone, property investor RDI REIT, and asset management software provider Alfa Financial Software were all relegated from the midcap index.The changes come into effect on September 24.The pound was firm, quoted at USD1.2910 compared to USD1.2903 at the close Wednesday.The economic events calendar on Thursday has US ADP private payrolls numbers at 1315 BST, which prelude the all-important nonfarm payrolls figures on Friday.In the US on Wednesday Wall Street ended broadly, with S&P 500 down 0.3%, Nasdaq Composite down 1.2% but the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1%.Delegations from the US and Canada resumed trade talks in Washington on Wednesday after intense marathon negotiations broke down last week without result.Trump has repeatedly warned that a failure to reach a "fair deal" would result in Washington slapping tariffs on Canada's auto exports."We have to make a fair deal with Canada," Trump said Wednesday at the White House. "I'm not blaming Canada, I love Canada, I love the people of Canada, but they and other countries have been taking advantage of the US for many years."The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.1%.
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