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(Alliance News) - UK grocery sales in the lead-up to Christmas were down on a year before but up from the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, figures from market research firm Kantar showed on Wednesday.
Grocery sales reached GBP11.7 billion in the four weeks to December 26, Kantar said. In the longer 12-week period leading up to Boxing Day, sales totalled GBP31.07 billion, down 3.0% from a year before, when the UK was under various degrees of lockdown. However, this was up 8.0% on a two-year basis.
"People seized the chance to enjoy Christmas with friends and family after last year's muted festivities, and grocery sales hit GBP11.7 billion over the month of December alone," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
"This lofty spend figure is down just 0.2% on record 2020 sales when several areas faced restrictions and the data suggests that while there weren't formal rules in place across the UK this year, many people celebrated at home again due to Omicron."
Online grocer Ocado was the only major player to show a year-on-year increase, up 2.5%. There also were positives for Tesco, which increased its market share to 27.9% from 27.3%.
Ocado shares were up 3.4% early Wednesday, while Tesco was up 0.4%.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 7,499.13
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Hang Seng: down 1.9% at 22,857.20
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.1% at 29,332.16
S&P/ASX 200: closed down 0.3% at 7,565.80
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DJIA: closed up 214.59 points, or 0.6%, at 36,799.65
S&P 500: closed down 3.02 points, or 0.1%, at 4,793.54
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 210.08 points, or 1.3%, at 15,622.72
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EUR: soft at USD1.1297 (USD1.1303)
GBP: soft at USD1.3536 (USD1.3542)
USD: unchanged at JPY116.02 (JPY116.03)
Gold: down at USD1,812.79 per ounce (USD1,814.05)
Oil (Brent): soft at USD80.08 a barrel (USD80.27)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's key economic events still to come
0955 CET Germany services purchasing managers' index
1000 CET EU eurozone services PMI
0815 EST US ADP national employment report
0945 EST US services PMI
1030 EST US EIA weekly petroleum status report
1400 EST US FOMC meeting minutes
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face scrutiny over his hope to "ride out" the wave of Omicron without further restrictions despite the NHS coming under significant strain from coronavirus. Johnson will argue to his Cabinet on Wednesday they should stick by the Plan B measures in England as he accepted parts of the health service will feel "temporarily overwhelmed". He will also face Labour leader Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions and possible challenges from Tory MPs critical of restrictions amid concerns of staffing shortages. Government sources did not deny reports suggesting Covid-19 testing rules will be relaxed to reduce absences, though the timing of the announcement was unclear. The Telegraph said a change so that millions who test positive in lateral flow tests will not need a confirmatory PCR could come on Wednesday.
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Consumer demand in Ireland tailed off at the end of last year, leaving the country's service sector - and private sector as a whole - with its weakest growth since March, according to survey results released by IHS Markit. The AIB Ireland services purchasing managers' index reading for December reflected the impact of the new wave of Covid-19 infections, IHS Markit said. The headline services business activity index dropped to 55.4 points in December from 59.3 in November and 63.4 in October. This sent the Ireland composite output index - which combines services and manufacturing sector readings - down to 56.5 points in December from 59.3 in November. On Monday, IHS Markit had said Ireland's manufacturing PMI fell to 58.3 in December from 59.9 in November.
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Consumer confidence in Japan inched down in December, according to data from the Cabinet Office. The consumer confidence index edged lower to 39.1 points in December from 39.2 the month before. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the perception indices for employment, down 1.4 points from the previous month to 41.5. Meanwhile, indices improved for income growth, up 0.5 point to 39.9, and for overall livelihood, up 0.5 point to 38.6.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES FERGUSON TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 15,000 (11,200) PENCE
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BERENBERG RAISES OCADO TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 1,990 (2,065) PENCE
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UBS RAISES INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS TO 'BUY' (NEUTRAL) - PRICE TARGET 5,575 (5,000) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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AstraZeneca said it has completed the transfer of global rights to Eklira and Duaklir to Swiss pharmaceutical firm Covis Pharma. Both medicines are delivered via the Genuair device and used for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Cambridge-based drug maker has received a USD270 million payment. "AstraZeneca will also receive payments in respect of certain ongoing development costs related to the medicines," the company said.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Airtel Africa reported the first closing of a wider transaction to sell its tower assets in Tanzania. The assets will be sold to a joint venture containing SBA Communications, an operator of wireless communications infrastructure, and Paradigm Infrastructure, which develops wireless infrastructure in selected growth markets. Airtel will net USD176.1 million for the whole deal and has received USD159 million of these proceeds following the first closing. "Under the terms of the transaction, Airtel Africa's subsidiary in Tanzania will continue to develop, maintain and operate its equipment on the towers under separate lease arrangements, largely made in local currencies, with the purchaser," Airtel said. "Around USD60 million from the proceeds will be used to invest in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the government of Tanzania."
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COMPANIES - OTHER UK AND IRELAND
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Ryanair reported a sharp annual rise in December traffic. Traffic in December surged to 9.5 million passengers from 1.9 million a year earlier. However, this represented a monthly fall from 10.2 million in November and was the lowest monthly total since July. December's load factor improved to 81% from 73% a year earlier, though down from 86% in November. On Tuesday, Wizz Air had said that booked passenger numbers were up 21% in December, to 2.6 million, from 2.2 million in November. A year earlier, passenger numbers were just 665,772.
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Verici Dx said it struck a deal with New York-listed biotechnology firm Illumina. The collaboration will help "expedite" the launch of predictive artificial intelligence components of Verici Dx products. Verici Dx will have access to the Illumina Connected Analytics cloud-based data management and analysis software platform. Kidney transplant test developer Verici Dx said the deal is an "important milestone". "Having access to this state-of-the-art platform provides a substantial enhancement to Verici Dx's data management and interrogation capabilities and bolsters its ability to develop highly predictive future products. It will also enable Verici Dx to stay at the forefront of improving patient outcomes," the company added.
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Wednesday's shareholder meetings
Trackwise Designs PLC - GM re share offer
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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