Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open higher, as investors digest the latest UK unemployment data, before turning their heads to US inflation.
Focus for the week will be on major central banks. The Federal Reserve kicks off the central banking bonanza by announcing its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday.
It will follow Friday's slightly hotter-than-expected US jobs report, and will also come in light of a consumer price index reading scheduled for Tuesday. The Bank of England and European Central Bank follow with their final interest rate decisions of the year on Thursday.
Early Tuesday, investors have had UK unemployment data to digest. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that UK unemployment was steady in the three months to October.
In corporate news, the FTSE 250's Chemring upped its full-year dividend on higher revenue and profit.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: called up 0.3% at 7,566.30
----------
Hang Seng: up 1.2% at 16,399.63
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.2% at 32,843.70
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.5% at 7,235.30
----------
DJIA: closed up 157.06 points, 0.4%, at 36,404.93
S&P 500: closed up 18.07 points, or 0.4%, at 4,622.44
Nasdaq Composite: closed up 28.51 points, or 0.2%, at 14,432.49
----------
EUR: up at USD1.0773 (USD1.0746)
GBP: up at USD1.2579 (USD1.2545)
USD: down at JPY145.42 (JPY146.52)
Gold: up at USD1,987.50 per ounce (USD1,981.92)
(Brent): up at USD76.49 a barrel (USD75.41)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS
----------
Tuesday's key economic events still to come:
11:00 CET Germany ZEW economic sentiment
US Federal Open Market Committee meeting begins
08:55 EST US Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index
16:30 EST US API Weekly Statistical Bulletin
08:30 EST US CPI
----------
UK unemployment was steady in the three months to October, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday. The unemployment rate for the period from August to October was 4.2%, unchanged from the July to September period. The unemployment rate came in line with FXStreet-cited market consensus. In the three months to September, annual growth in average total pay, excluding bonuses, was 7.3%. This was slightly lower than market consensus of 7.4%. Growth in the previous three-month period was 7.8%. Including bonuses, average pay growth was 7.2%, much lower than market expectations of 7.7%. It was 8.0% in the three months to September. The ONS began to use 'experimental' unemployment data in October, owing to a low response rate for its survey.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
JPMorgan adds Segro to 'analyst focus list'
----------
JPMorgan raises Rio Tinto to 'overweight' (neutral) - price target 7,000 (6,310) pence
----------
BofA cuts Quilter to 'underperform' ('neutral') - target 96 (93) pence
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Icosavax. Icosavax is a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated, high-potential vaccines using an innovative, protein virus-like particle platform. Astra said the proposed acquisition will build on AstraZeneca's expertise in respiratory syncytial virus, strengthening AstraZeneca's Vaccines & Immune Therapies late-stage pipeline with Icosavax's lead investigational vaccine candidate, IVX-A12.
----------
GSK said that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has accepted for review a regulatory application to extend the indication of GSK's respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for the prevention of RSV disease in adults aged 50-59 at increased risk. This regulatory submission follows Japan's approval of GSK's vaccine for the prevention of RSV disease in adults from the age of 60 years. GSK said it is the first company to seek regulatory approval to extend RSV vaccination to help protect adults aged 50 to 59 at increased risk for RSV disease. Further announcements on regulatory progress in the US and EU are expected in early 2024, it added.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Chemring, a provider of technology products and services to aerospace, defence and security markets, provided its results for the year ended October 31. Chemring reported that revenue rose to GBP472.6 million from GBP401.0 million a year earlier. Underlying pretax profit jumped to GBP71.7 million from GBP57.9 million. It noted that 2023 results were slightly ahead of the board's initial expectations despite foreign exchange headwinds. On the back of the results, Chemring upped its dividend per share by 21% to 6.9p from 5.7p. Chief Executive Michael Ord said: "2023 was another year of strong group performance; and in an environment of increasing global uncertainty demand continues to grow for our mission-critical products and services. With record order intake and an order book at the highest level in over a decade the group is well placed for continued delivery of sustainable performance and growth."
----------
OTHER COMPANIES
----------
Skedda has proposed to buy SmartSpace, the Bury St Edmunds, England-based designer and builder of smart software solutions. It has offered the company 82p per share, more than double the closing price of 33.5p on Monday. The offer values SmartSpace at GBP25.0 million. Skedda commented: "Skedda is excited by a potential of a combination with SmartSpace. Skedda believes that it can provide SmartSpace with the considerable financial support and technical expertise that Skedda believes will be necessary for SmartSpace to maintain its technological advantage in a rapidly developing and increasingly competitive sector."
----------
Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, won a major US court battle against Alphabet's Google on Monday when a jury decided that the search engine company wields illegal monopoly power through its Android app store. Epic sued Google and Apple Inc in 2020, accusing the tech titans of abusing control of their respective shops selling apps and other digital content on mobile devices. Google and Apple take percentages of all financial transactions at their app shops, prompting complaints by developers about an unfair "tax" imposed by the companies. The defeat is a rare setback for a big US tech company in a US court, where judges have recently ruled in favor of big tech against accusations of running illegal monopolies or abusing their market power.
----------
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
