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(Alliance News) - Satisfaction with UK living standards and income has plunged amid devastating predictions for Friday's new energy price cap, a survey suggested on Wednesday.
The Which? consumer insight tracker shows satisfaction with living standards and income has crashed to its lowest point since 2014, even before Ofgem is widely expected to announce a new price cap for October topping GBP3,500 on Friday, up from GBP1,971 currently.
Some 93% of consumers said they were worried about energy prices.
The consumer advocate's latest survey found just over half of consumers, 55%, are currently satisfied with their standards of living, while just 39% are content with their household income and 34% are happy with their savings.
Confidence in household finances has plunged to the level it was at the start of the pandemic as inflation driven largely by food and energy prices reached a 40-year high.
Around 7% of households, an estimated 1.9 million, missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or other bill in the last month, up from 4.5% a year ago.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 7,473.11
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Hang Seng: down 1.0% at 19,316.79
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.5% at 28,313.47
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.5% at 6,998.10
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DJIA: closed down 154.02 points, or 0.5%, at 32,909.59
S&P 500: closed down 9.26 points, or 0.2% at 4,128.73
Nasdaq Composite: closed marginally lower, down 0.27 point at 12,381.30
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EUR: down at USD0.9948 (USD0.9987)
GBP: down at USD1.1815 (USD1.1864)
USD: up at JPY136.64 (JPY136.28)
Gold: down at USD1,747.14 per ounce (USD1,751.38)
Oil (Brent): up at USD100.28 a barrel (USD99.90)
(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
0700 EDT US MBA weekly mortgage applications survey
0830 EDT US durable goods orders
1000 EDT US pending home sales index
1030 EDT US EIA weekly petroleum status report
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Ukraine on Wednesday will both celebrate its national day and mark six months since Russia launched its invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky it was an important day for Ukrainians and "for our enemy," as he warned the public to follow safety rules and observe curfews as Russian strikes were possible. He also said he plans to present awards to Ukrainians who have contributed to the country's strength for Independence Day, which marks 31 years since Ukraine broke away from the Soviet Union. "We have planned many activities - something that will emphasize the path we have covered. Covered together - Ukrainians in Ukraine, throughout our territory - free and temporarily occupied, because our people are fighting everywhere," Zelensky said on Tuesday evening. The US also warned ahead of the date that Russia might use the anniversary to launch heightened attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and government facilities.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Barclays raises Shell price target to 3,300 (3,000) pence - 'overweight'
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Barclays raises Harbour Energy price target to 715 (540) pence - 'overweight'
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Berenberg raises Entain price target to 2,000 (1,950) pence - 'buy'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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AstraZeneca said it will provide new safety and efficacy data on several of its cancer drugs, purporting to show longer survival for cancer patients. Between September 9 and September 13, the Cambridge-based pharmaceutical firm will present data at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2022 in Paris. AstraZeneca will present data for cancer drugs Imfinzi, Tagrisso, Lynparza and Enhertu, the latter of which is developed with its Tokyo-based partner Daiichi Sankyo. All cancer drugs that will be highlighted have been approved for some form of cancer treatments in the US, EU and other countries.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Office workspace provider IWG hired a new chief financial officer. IWG said it has appointed Charlie Steel as chief financial officer, joining the board "prior to the end of 2022". Steel takes over from Glyn Hughes, who is resigning to become chief executive of a non-listed company. Steel joins from Babylon Holdings, a digital health delivery and AI diagnosis business. Prior to this, he was global head of corporate development at London-listed contracts-for-difference trading platform CMC Markets.
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COMPANIES - SMALL CAP
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Lookers resumed interim dividends even as profit slipped. The car dealer reported a strong first half despite supply chain issues. Revenue for the six months to June 30 rose 3.6% to GBP2.23 billion from GBP2.15 billion a year before, driven by increases in used vehicles and aftersales. Pretax profit slipped marginally to GBP49.9 million versus GBP50.4 million. Profit performance was "underpinned by material improvement in new vehicle gross profit margin", the firm said. Lookers's margin strengthened to 12.7% from 12.0%. The car dealer resumed its interim dividend at 1.00p, having not paid out anything a year before. Lookers last paid an interim dividend for the first half of 2019. It resumed final dividend payments alongside its results for 2021. Lookers said supply disruption during the half made trading conditions "challenging". Trading in July and August has been in line with expectations and the company has managed to maintain margins at first-half levels. "Whilst mindful of the pressures facing consumers, we are confident in our strategic direction and retain our expectations for the remainder of the year," said Chief Executive Mark Raban.
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IP commercialisation firm Allied Minds said it will consult with shareholders over a possible share delisting from London following a strategic review. Under the review, the board weighed up the costs of its listing in London and decided it is "prohibitively high" relative to the company's size. Allied Minds said it judged that maintaining a public listing is "no longer in the best interests" of the company and its shareholders. "The Allied Minds board therefore now intends to formally consult with shareholders regarding a possible delisting of the company," the Boston, US-based firm said.
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Costain reported interim profit growth as the infrastructure construction firm grappled with supply chain pressures. Revenue for the first half of 2022 rose 19% to GBP665.2 million from GBP556.8 million a year before, reflecting "primarily volume growth and inflation protection mechanisms within contracts". Pretax profit increased 23% to GBP11.2 million from GBP9.1 million, even as the operating margin slipped to 1.8% from 2.0%. "Despite material availability and inflation challenges, we have managed the supply chain pressures effectively, while delivering a robust operational performance with new contracts being won on attractive commercial terms with appropriate risk," said Chief Executive Alex Vaughan. He added that there was a "very high level" of bidding activity in the period, with award decisions expected later this year and into early 2023. "While we remain mindful of the macro-economic backdrop, we are pleased with the quality and scale of our order book, including secured multi-year infrastructure programmes, the volume of preferred bidder work and the additional long-term framework contracts which will deliver continued progress in 2023 and beyond," said Vaughan.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Compagnie Financiere Richemont said it has sold a 50.7% stake in its online fashion retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter to London-based, New York-listed Farfetch and Dubai-based Mohammad Alabbar-owned Symphony Global. Richemont will take a non-cash charge of just under EUR3 billion as a result of the deal. Describing it as "landmark", Richemont said this transaction represented a "significant step" in achieving its vision of making Yoox a neutral industry-wide platform. In the initial stage, Farfetch will acquire 47.5% interest in Yoox, accounting for a non-controlling stake that will not require it to consolidate Yoox in this phase. Farfetch is a global platform for the luxury fashion industry. Symphony Global will buy 3.2% shares in Yoox in the first part of the deal.
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China has announced it is investigating several executives at state-owned property companies over allegations of "serious violations of discipline and law". The probes are another blow to a key sector, which is already struggling with slowing sales, angry customers and heavily indebted developers. Authorities said in separate notices on Tuesday that they were investigating Zhuang Yuekai, chair of C&D Real Estate, and Shi Zhen, chair of C&D Urban Services. They are also looking into Liu Hui, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Talents Housing Group, and Tang Yong, a former chair at China Resources Land. All four were "suspected of serious violations of discipline and law", the notices said, providing few details.
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Wednesday's shareholder meetings
Amur Minerals Corp - GM subsidiary sale
Creightons PLC - AGM
Goldstone Resources Ltd - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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