Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Wednesday as risk sentiment bounces on hopes of economic stimulus by virus-hit China, with stocks looking to recoup some of the previous session's Apple warning-driven losses.
In early UK company news, Qatar Airways upped its shareholding in International Consolidated Airlines to now hold around a quarter of the British Airways parent. Moneysupermarket.com announced the departure of its chief executive, while Metro Bank confirmed the appointment of one.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 41.79 points higher at 7,423.80 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 51.24 points, or 0.7%, at 7,382.01 on Tuesday.
"After the Apple earnings scare shook equity markets yesterday, Asian equity markets are moving higher this morning. Risk sentiment appears to be boosted by news that China is planning further measures to support the economy, this time to inject liquidity into and help merge the nation's airlines," said Danske Bank.
"This support comes after the Chinese central bank cut its medium-term policy rate two days ago," Danske Bank noted.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.2% in late trade.
New figures showed the coronavirus death toll in China has surged beyond 2,000 with more than 74,000 infected. Hundreds more cases have been reported in two dozen countries.
South Korea reported 15 new confirmed cases – increasing its total by nearly 50% – including a cluster of at least 11 centred on the southern city of Daegu. Hong Kong reported a second death.
While China announced Wednesday there were 1,749 new infections, this was the lowest number of new cases this month. All but 56 new cases were in the epicentre of Hubei province.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and Nasdaq Composite flat.
In early UK company news, Qatar Airways said it has increased its stake in British Airways parent in International Consolidated Airlines to 25.1%.
This was from the 21.4% stake held by the Qatari government-owned airline previously.
"Our investment to date has been highly successful, and the announced increase in our shareholding is evidence of our continued support of IAG and its strategy," said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker.
"Qatar Airways continues to consider opportunities to invest in airlines and support management teams that share our vision to enhance travel opportunities for airline passengers across the globe," he added.
Moneysupermarket.com said CEO Mark Lewis has indicated he intends to step down from the role and pursue his career in a "new direction".
No date for his departure has been set, but Lewis has said he wishes to ensure a "smooth" transition to his successor. The company has started a formal search process for his replacement, looking at both internal and external candidates.
He, along with Chief Financial Officer Scilla Grimble, will present the price comparison site's results for 2019 as scheduled on Thursday, and the group will announce that these met market expectations.
Lender Metro Bank confirmed Dan Frumkin as CEO with immediate effect.
Frumkin has been working as Metro's interim CEO since the start of the year, having joined in September 2019 as chief transformation officer. Prior to this, he spent eight years at Bermuda-based Bank of NT Butterfield & Son and has held roles at RBS and Northern Rock.
"The combination of three decades of experience across retail banking and the positive impact he has made since joining Metro Bank last year mean we have identified an impressive CEO to take Metro Bank into its second decade. I look forward to working with Dan as we deliver the next chapter," said Chair Michael Snyder.
Sky News on Tuesday had reported the UK challenger bank was under pressure from the City to make Frumkin's role permanent.
And in another CEO appointment, Pendragon said it has chosen Non-Executive Director Bill Berman to become the automotive retailer's next chief executive.
Berman joined Pendragon as a non-executive in April 2019 and since October has been performing the role of interim executive chair. Berman will continue to serve as interim chair while the company seeks to fill the role on a permanent basis.
Prior to joining Pendragon, Berman served as president & chief operating officer of AutoNation, the largest automotive retailer in America.
Consulting services firm RPS reported a sharp fall in profit for 2019 as it also reported the departure of its finance director.
Revenue for the year was slightly lower at GBP612.60 million from GBP637.4 million, but pretax profit slumped to GBP4.8 million from GBP41.0 million.
The main driver of this was GBP23.4 million taken in exceptional items, of which GBP19.8 million related to a goodwill impairment in its Australia Asia Pacific segment.
In line with a previous rebasing announcement, RPS said proposed a final dividend of 2.0p, down from 5.08p a year ago, to take the full-year payout to 4.42p versus 9.88p.
"In FY2019 we had to contend with several headwinds which significantly impacted on the results. We responded to difficult trading conditions, particularly in our Australia Asia Pacific segment. Pleasingly, we saw some stabilisation of market conditions in the UK and elsewhere towards the end of the year," said CEO John Douglas.
Douglas continued: "As we enter 2020, trading conditions in our markets are generally satisfactory and we anticipate more stable results from our segments...The board remains confident in the medium term outlook for the group and anticipates that the year ahead will be broadly in line with 2019 with growth accelerating in 2021."
Separately, RPS said that Gary Young has decided to retire from the group after serving as finance director for 20 years.
He will step down on April 30, the company's annual general meeting, and be succeeded by RPS's strategy director Judith Cottrell.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2996 early Wednesday, lower than USD1.3021 at the London equities close on Tuesday.
The euro traded at USD1.0800 early Wednesday, down from than USD1.0817 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY110.09, up from JPY109.81.
"The USDJPY traded past the 110 mark as the Japanese yen saw a modest retreat on the back of better risk appetite. Japan's exports fell for the fourteenth straight month in January, but the 2.6% decline was much less than a 6.9% drop expected by analysts and the 6.3% fall printed a month earlier," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote.
In commodities, gold was quoted at USD1,605.30 an ounce early Wednesday, firm versus USD1,602.83 on Tuesday. Brent oil was trading at USD58.24 a barrel early Wednesday, up from USD57.08 late Tuesday.
In Wednesday's economic calendar there is UK inflation at 0930 GMT and US producer prices at 1330 GMT, followed by minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting at 1900 GMT.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
