LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Friday, as Asian markets were dragged down by a fall in US index futures due to disappointing earnings results after the New York close on Thursday.In London early Friday,
International Consolidated Airlines Group reported a rise in earnings despite higher fuel cost and foreign exchange headwinds.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group saw profit grow in the third quarter of 2018.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 56.90 points lower at 6,947.2 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed closed up 0.6%, or 41.12 points at 7,004.10 on Friday."Equity markets bounced back yesterday as investors were encouraged to buy back into the market on the back of strong corporate earnings," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden."Positive updates from Lloyds and UBS helped sentiment in Europe, but it is fair to say that the rally in the US dragged other markets higher too. After a choppy few days on Wall Street we saw buyers enter the fold," added Madden. In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 1.3%, the S&P 500 gaining 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite 2.6% higher.However, tech giants Amazon and Alphabet posted earnings after the close on Thursday. Amazon topped the earnings per share forecast, but missed on revenue and the guidance. Google parent Alphabet exceeded estimates on earnings per share, but undershot the revenue forecast. Amazon closed Thursday's trading in New York up 7.1% but slipped 6.3% in after-hours trade. Alphabet C shares rose 4.3% in regular trade but dropped 4.9% in after hours trading."Both stocks dropped heavily in the post-market session, and in turn sparked selling across major US indices. Asian stock markets have been dragged lower by the sharp decline in US index futures," explained Madden. In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.0%.In early company news, British Airways-owner
IAG reported a 5.2% rise in revenue in the nine months to September-end to EUR18.35 billion from to EUR17.45 billion generated for the same period a year earlier. Pretax profit improved by 8.6% to EUR3.04 billion from EUR1.99 billion a year ago. "These were strong results despite significant fuel cost and foreign exchange headwinds. At constant currency, our passenger unit revenue increased by 2.4% while non-fuel unit costs went down 0.7%," said Chief Executive Willie Walsh.Looking ahead, the airline group expects to deliver an EUR200 million increase in operating profit before exceptional items for 2018. The year before, operating profit totalled EUR2.95 billion. IAG also said anticipates an improvement in non-fuel unit costs for the full year.
RBS reported pretax profit in the three months ended September of GBP961 million, up 10% from from GBP871 million the year before.The UK government majority owned bank's third quarter total income increased 15% to GBP3.64 billion, with net-interest income decreasing to GBP2.15 billion from GBP2.30 billion.RBS's third quarter operating expenses increased 14% to GBP2.44 billion, with litigation & conduct costs amounting to GBP782 million in the period, a large increase from GBP125 million in charges in the third quarter of 2017.RBS's CET1 ratio at the end of September was 16.7%, up from 16.1% at June 30.In addition, the bank announced that NatWest Markets has received approval from Dutch regulator DNB to re-purpose its existing banking licence, allowing the investment bank to "serve its European Economic Area customers" post Brexit.Property investment & development company
SEGRO has sold four big box warehouses and adjacent development land in Belgium, end its presence in that country. The 92,500 square meters warehouses were owned by European Logistics Partnership, a joint venture in which SEGRO holds 50% stake. The partnership has secured EUR83.4 million following a disposal, of which SEGRO share is EUR41.7 million. Miner
Glencore said third-quarter coal and copper production was up on last year, as it held its annual guidance, with the exception of oil due to an unplanned stoppage at the Mangara field in Chad.Own-sourced copper production of 1.1 million tonnes in the three months to September 30 was up 12% on last year, while own-sourced cobalt production was 44% higher than last year at 28,500 tonnes.Own-source zinc production was down 5% on last year to 786,000 tonnes, reflecting assets sold to Trevali Mining, which was partly offset by a strong mining performance at McArthur River and the restart of mining at Lady Loretta, both in Australia. Adjusting for the disposal, zinc production was up 7%.Coal production of 96.7 million tonnes was 5.7 million tonnes, or 6%, higher than last year, Glencore said.
Petropavlovsk said gold production in the three months to September-end was 102,000 ounces, down from 104,000 ounces produced in the same period a year ago. For the nine months to the end of September, production also fell year-on-year to 303,400 ounces of gold from 336,400 ounces. The miner explained that its key priority was the development and commissioning of the POX Hub at Pokrovskiy in Russia. By the end of December, the company aims to grow our high-grade refractory concentrate stockpile to over 50,000 ounces of gold. For 2018, Petropavlovsk expects to produce between 420,000 and 450,000 ounces of gold, including gold in concentrate. The company said it has secured forward contracts to sell about 250,000 ounces of fold at an average price of USD1,252 per ounce. In UK political news, London Mayor Sadiq Khan will meet Michel Barnier in Brussels on Friday, the latest in a string of British politicians from across the Brexit divide to hold talks with the EU's chief negotiator.The Labour politician, a supporter of a second People's Vote referendum, also will meet other senior European Commission figures on a whistle-stop visit to the Belgian capital.London voted heavily in favour of Remain in the 2016 referendum, and Khan has voiced concerns about the impact of Brexit on the city, a global trade powerhouse.Khan's meeting with Barnier comes a day after several senior figures from the smaller political parties met the negotiator in Brussels.The economic events calendar on Friday has French producer prices at 0745 BST and US third quarter GDP figures at 1330 BST.
