(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set for a positive open on Friday, rebounding from a drop on Thursday, which was caused by worries about the continued increase in virus cases and the development of new variants.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open up 28.38 points, or 0.4%, at 7,040.40 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 79.19 points, or 1.1%, at 7,012.02 on Thursday.
The UK government's top medic has warned the number of people in hospital with coronavirus could reach "quite scary" levels within weeks.
Chris Whitty said the UK is "not out of the woods yet", just hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared it was "highly probable" the worst of the pandemic is over.
The latest figures showed 48,553 more cases, the highest since January 15, while the 63 deaths were the biggest daily reported increase since March 26.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3828 early Friday, falling from USD1.3855 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at USD1.1810 early Friday, flat from USD1.1814.
In early UK company news, Rio Tinto said it expects iron ore shipments to be at the low end of the 2021 guidance range due to Covid-19 disruptions, tie-in and ramp up of brownfield replacement mines, and management of cultural heritage.
The miner said Pilbara operations produced 152.3 million tonnes - with a Rio Tinto share of 126.9 million tonnes - in the first half of 2021, 5% lower than the first half of 2020 due to above-average rainfall, shutdowns to enable replacement mines to be tied in, processing plant availability, and cultural heritage management.
Last year, Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site - the Juukan Gorge caves - to expand the Pilbara iron ore mine in Western Australia, attracting public outcry, regulatory scrutiny and changes at the top of the company.
Mined copper and bauxite production, meanwhile, is expected to be at the low end of the guidance range in 2021 after mined copper from Kennecott and Escondida declined by 6% and 17%, respectively, in the first half of 2021. Bauxite production slipped to 27.3 tonnes from 28.4 tonnes year-on-year in the first six months of 2021.
Sales, marketing and support services firm DCC said it traded "very well" in the seasonally less significant first quarter of its current financial year, building on the strong performance recorded for the year that ended March 31.
Operating profit growth was well ahead of the prior year and modestly ahead of expectations, driven by "very strong" organic profit growth in DCC Healthcare and DCC Technology.
John Moloney will retire as chair and from the board following Friday's annual general meeting. Mark Breuer will succeed Moloney.
Burberry said it has made an "excellent start" to its current financial year, with comparable store sales rebounding strongly, rising 90% in the 13 weeks to June 26 from the prior year and were up 1% on two years ago, meaning pre-pandemic.
Full-price sales growth accelerated to 26% on two years ago, driven by new, younger clientele, Burberry said.
The luxury fashion house kept its first-half guidance unchanged except for Wholesale, which is now expected to increase by 60% year-on-year due to a stronger order book.
Since the end of the first quarter, Burberry said it opened its first flagship carrying its new global design concept on Sloane Street in London.
Drugmaker AstraZeneca said US regulator decided that benefit-risk profile of roxadustat does not support approval for the treatment of anaemia in chronic kidney disease in non-dialysis dependent adult patients.
The US Food & Drug Administration's Cardiovascular & Renal Drugs Advisory Committee also said that the benefit-risk profile of roxadustat does not support approval for the treatment of anaemia in chronic kidney disease in dialysis-dependent adult patients.
"Although we are disappointed by today's outcome, we will continue to work closely with our partner FibroGen and the US FDA to determine the path forward for roxadustat," said Mene Pangalos, executive vice president at Astra's BioPharmaceuticals R&D.
Asset manager Ninety One said assets under management at June 30 were GBP139.0 billion, up from GBP118.0 billion a year before and GBP130.9 billion on March 31.
Home repairs business HomeServe said the outlook for the full year remains in line with the guidance as it continues to see strong growth in its North American Membership & HVAC business and the Home Experts unit is on track to reach profitability.
In UK Membership & HVAC, a transformation programme is under way, HomeServe noted, to create "a more diversified, efficient digital business", and return to stable growth.
The company's Continental European Membership & HVAC businesses, and its joint venture in Japan, continue to make good progress.
Turning to M&A news, Ascential - an e-commerce optimisation company - acquired a 51% majority stake in ASR Group, a digital content optimisation business that enables brands to grow sales through e-commerce marketplaces.
The acquisition is for an initial cash payment of USD122 million. Ascential said it also has an option to acquire two further 24.5% stakes in ASR Group to own it wholly.
DS Smith has agreed to sell its De Hoop paper mill in the Netherlands to De Jong Packaging for EUR50 million in cash. The mill produces 370,000 tonnes of mainly heavier grades of recycled paper per annum.
The packaging company said the proceeds will be used to partly offset this year's enhanced investment in packaging capacity, with new greenfield corrugated box plants in Italy and Poland, and an expansion of its Arnstadt packaging facility in Germany.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.0% on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed 0.2% higher.
"The Japanese market is weighed down by a new surge in Covid-19 infections with numbers hitting the highest level since May yesterday," noted Danske Bank Senior Analyst Bjorn Tangaa Sillemann.
The Bank of Japan revised down its growth forecast for the current fiscal year and laid out details of its first green fund, announced last month.
The central bank kept its key monetary easing measures unchanged, and maintained its longstanding two-percent inflation target, which remains far off despite years of efforts.
In its quarterly report, the BoJ said Japan's economy would grow 3.8% in the current fiscal year to March, trimming its previous estimate of 4.0% growth "due to the impact of Covid-19."
However, it revised up the forecast for the year to March 2023 to 2.7% growth from 2.4%.
The BoJ raised its inflation forecast to 0.6% for the current year to March from 0.1% "mainly due to higher energy prices."
Against the yen, the dollar was broadly unchanged at JPY109.99 versus JPY110.00 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,826.34 an ounce early Friday, slightly higher than USD1,824.33 on Thursday. Brent oil was trading at USD73.24 a barrel, down from USD74.22 late Thursday.
The economic events calendar on Friday has eurozone inflation readings at 1000 BST and a US retail sales print at 1330 BST.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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