(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening slightly higher on Friday following a firm close in New York on Thursday, as investors took heart from positive US-China trade developments and a potential coronavirus vaccine.
In early company news, Irish building materials company Kingspan Group skipped its interim dividend after reporting a fall in interim profit. Oil and gas company Hurricane Energy named an industry veteran as its new chief executive.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 9.46 points higher at 6,022.80. The blue-chip index closed down 98.64 points, or 1.6%, at 6,013.34 Thursday.
Kingspan Group said it delivered a resilient half-year performance overall, given challenges brought about by the coronavirus crisis.
For the half-year ended June 30, revenue fell 8% to EUR2.07 billion from EUR2.24 billion last year, and pretax profit fell 15% to EUR177.5 million from EUR208.9.
Kingspan said that, in light of the coronavirus crisis, it decided that is prudent not to pay an interim dividend and added that its shareholder returns policy is under review. The company paid an interim dividend of 13.0 euro cents per share last year.
"With over EUR1 billion in cash and undrawn facilities, we are well placed to come through the crisis in a strong position. In 2020 we have completed or agreed terms on three major acquisitions of businesses with revenue totalling over EUR400 million, and we also continue our organic expansion, with new facilities being developed in locations including Brazil, Russia, and Sweden," said Chief Executive Gene Murtagh.
Hurricane Energy said it has appointed Antony Maris as CEO-designate Hurricane said Maris has wide-ranging experience in the oil and gas sector and was most recently chief operating officer at Pharos Energy from 2012 to early 2020. Pharos was formerly known as SOCO International.
Maris will work alongside interim CEO Beverley Smith and will assume the role following the release of Hurricane's interim results in September. Smith will then return to her role as a non-executive director.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2%, S&P 500 up 0.3% and Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%.
Beijing and Washington will soon hold a call on trade, China's commerce ministry said Thursday, after reports that planned high-level talks on the "phase one" agreement between the two countries were postponed.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow described the US as "very cross with China on a number of issues", but said Washington remained "engaged" with Beijing on the phase one deal.
The US and China signed the accord in January, bringing a partial truce in their lingering trade war and obliging Beijing to import an additional USD200 billion in American products over two years, ranging from cars to machinery to oil to farm products.
Investor sentiment also was lifted by Covid-19 vaccine developments, after US drugmaker Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said a vaccine they are working on could be up for regulatory review by October. If all goes well, a treatment could be ready to roll out as soon as November.
The news "has raised some expectation...that life around the world could return to normal sooner than expected", said AxiCorp's Stephen Innes.
"From a stock market concern, it's great for growth assets as planes will fly, the oil will flow, and laggard industries will emerge from the Covid-19 fog, and their stocks will soar. Indeed, with a vaccine cure, a trip to your local clinic could be the one-stop recession plugger before the year is out," Innes added optimistically.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4% on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 1.3%.
Business activity in Japan remained at contraction levels in August, as new orders and work backlog declined and prices fell, flash PMI estimates from IHS Markit showed.
The Jibun Bank flash composite purchasing managers' index for Japan was 44.9, in line with the final reading for July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector and one below contraction.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3242 Friday morning, up from USD1.3160 at the London equities close Thursday.
UK retail sales rose in July as lockdown restrictions were relaxed, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
UK retail sales were up 1.4% in July on an annual basis, having decreased 1.6% in June. Market consensus, according to FXStreet, was for zero annual growth.
Meanwhile, British holidaymakers face another scramble to return home to avoid quarantine after Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago were removed from the safe travel list.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced on Thursday that travellers from those countries to the UK would be required to self-isolate for 14 days with the restrictions coming into effect from Saturday at 4am.
It comes as Portugal was given travel corridor status, meaning that Brits will not have to quarantine on their return to the UK from the country.
The euro was priced at USD1.1877, up from USD1.1849. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY105.60 in London, lower from JPY105.86.
In commodities, Brent oil was quoted at USD45.05 on Friday morning, higher than USD44.64 at Thursday's equities close in London. Gold was trading at USD1,947.10 an ounce, flat from USD1,946.90.
In the economic events calendar on Friday, there is a slew of flash Markit PMI readings on tap, with Germany at 0830 BST, eurozone at 0900 BST, the UK at 0930 BST, and the US at 1445 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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