Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open slightly lower on Friday, as investors pause for breath after a busy week of interest rate decisions.
In early economic news, UK retail sales were flat on-month in February, after a lofty boost in January, new data showed.
"Retail sales volumes were flat in February, marginally better than expected. This is a decent performance especially coming off a very strong January, with sales figures for that month also revised upwards to 3.6%," said Charlie Huggins at Wealth Club.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: called down slightly at 7,879.60
----------
Hang Seng: own 1.9% at 16,540.03
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.2% at 40,888.43
S&P/ASX 200: closed down 0.2% at 7,770.60
----------
DJIA: closed up 269.24 points, 0.7%, at 39,781.37
S&P 500: closed up 16.91 points, 0.3%, at 5,241.53
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 32.43 points, 0.2%, to 16,401.84
----------
EUR: down at USD1.0830 (USD1.0859)
GBP: down at USD1.2626 (USD1.2665)
USD: down at JPY151.29 (JPY151.69)
Gold: down at USD2,169.88 per ounce (USD2,178.10)
(Brent): down at USD85.22 a barrel (USD85.50)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS
----------
Friday's key economic events still to come:
08:30 EDT Canada retail sales
11:00 EDT Canada budget balance
eurozone ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks
10:00 CET Germany Ifo business climate
14:00 CET Germany Deutsche Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel speaks
11:00 GMT Ireland wholesale prices
09:00 CET Spain Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos speaks
09:00 CET Switzerland current account
12:15 EDT US Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael Barr speaks
13:00 EDT US Baker Hughes oil rig count
16:00 EDT US Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks
----------
UK retail sales were flat on-month in February, after a lofty boost in January, new data on Friday showed. According to the Office for National Statistics, UK retail sales were flat on-month in February, following a 3.6% boost in January. January's figure was upwardly revised from 3.4%. February's retail sales figure was predicted to show a fall of 0.3%, according to FXStreet, so the actual figure beat market consensus. "Sales volumes in clothing and department stores grew because of new collections but falls in food stores and fuel retailers offset this growth. Meanwhile online sales increased, particularly for clothing retailers, as wet weather affected footfall," the ONS said. Year-on-year, UK retail sales fell by 0.4% in February, following a 0.5% increase in January. FXStreet were expecting retail sales to fall by 0.7% annually.
----------
Foreign Secretary David Cameron has backed closer co-operation with Australia to provide increased security and Commonwealth stability. Cameron was speaking in Adelaide after talks with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, along with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. The talks have seen the two countries sign a defence and security agreement as well as announcing a contract for London-based defence, aerospace and security company BAE Systems in the building of nuclear-powered submarines as part of the Aukus agreement between the nations and the US. "This is a strong partnership, but it has got so much stronger in recent years," said the Foreign Secretary. "I think the discussions have shown we share analysis, we share values."
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
RBC cuts St James's Place to 'sector perform' (outperform) - price target 500 (950) pence
----------
HSBC cuts Ascential to 'hold' (buy) - price target 320 (310) pence
----------
Berenberg cuts Redrow to 'hold' (buy) - price target 688 (643) pence
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
Phoenix reported that in 2023 its adjusted operating pretax profit rose to GBP617 million from GBP544 million a year earlier. Its pretax loss attributable to owners narrowed to GBP164 million from GBP3.51 billion. Phoenix's 2023 solvency II leverage ratio stood at 36% versus 34% a yer earlier. On the back of the results, the company said it will pay out a final dividend of 26.65p per share bringing the full year dividend to 52.65p, up from 50.8p. CEO Andy Briggs said: "Phoenix's vision is to be the UK's leading retirement savings and income business, and we are making great progress in delivering our strategy to achieve this, as our strong 2023 financial results demonstrate."
----------
Glencore, a multinational commodity trading and mining company, said its long-serving Non-Executive Director Peter Coates will not seek re-election at an annual general meeting on May 29, and will retire from the board on that date. Coates joined the board on its initial public offering in 2011. "Peter's retirement marks the end of two long eras. First, it ends a career in mining that goes back more than half a century. Second, it completes a thirty-year association with Glencore, which started in 1994 when he was appointed to lead Glencore's then embryonic coal industrial," Chair Kalidas Madhavpeddi said. Glencore has appointed John Wallington as a non-executive director, with effect from June 1. Wallington spent most of his career at Anglo American.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Pub chain Wetherspoon reported results for the 26 weeks ended January 28. Revenue in the half-year climbed to GBP991.0 million from GBP916.0 million a year earlier. Pretax profit falls to GBP26.1 million from GBP57.0 million. Wetherspoon declared no interim dividend, unchanged from a year ago. "Sales continue to improve. In the last 7 weeks, to 17 March 2024, like-for-like sales increased by 5.8%," said Chair Tim Martin.
----------
Jefferies International on Thursday said an investor plans to sell shares in Darktrace. Darktrace is the Cambridge, England-headquartered cybersecurity company. On Friday, KKR Dark Aggregator said it has sold 19.4 million shares at 425p each, worth GBP82.5 millon. KKR Dark Aggregator, the US investment firm, has agreed to a lock-up period of 60 days for the remaining shares in Darktrace held by funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP and its affiliates. It first invested in Darktrace in 2016.
----------
OTHER COMPANIES
----------
Nike on Thursday said third-quarter revenue was only a touch higher, though it reported sales growth in both the key North America and China regions. The sports apparel firm said revenue in the quarter ended February 29 inched up 0.3% to USD12.43 billion from USD12.39 billion a year earlier. Net income, however, fell 5.5% to USD1.17 billion from USD1.24 billion. Basic earnings per share fell to USD0.77 from USD0.80. Total selling and administrative expense climbed 6.7% to USD4.23 billion. Its gross margin, however, did expand to 44.8% from 43.3%. "We are making the necessary adjustments to drive Nike's next chapter of growth," Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe said.
----------
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
