(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Friday following a strong close in the US on Thursday, while troubled Thomas Cook's shares fell after revealing it was in rescue talks. The FTSE 100 was 17.97 points higher, or 0.2%, at 7,527.79. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 46.42 points, or 0.2%, at 19,489.58, while the AIM All-Share was flat at 917.04.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 12,751.40. The Cboe UK 250 flat at 17,378.03, while the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.2% at 11,213.83.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris was up 0.2% and DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%. In the FTSE 100, International Consolidated Airlines was up 1.2% after Kepler Cheuvreux raised British Airways to Hold from Reduce.WPP was up 0.6% after the advertising company agreed to sell 60% of market research agency Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital Private Equity, which values all of Kantar at USD4.0 billion.The FTSE 100-listed advertising firm said it expects to receive USD3.1 billion in cash after transaction costs and will continue to own 40% stake in Kantar. Additionally, WPP said it may receive some other payments during the life of its partnership with Bain Capital. The company said it will use the net proceeds to reduce its debt leverage, while about USD1.2 billion or GBP1.0 billion will be returned to shareholders. The form of this return will be communicated to shareholders in "due course", WPP said.At the other end of the large caps, Hiscox was the worst performer, down 5.1% after the insurer said conditions in the insurance market continue to deteriorate. Hiscox said it expects to deliver pretax profit for the six months ended June 30 in the range of USD150 million to USD170 million. The company estimates an investment return of USD150 million to June-end. Hiscox highlighted that the insurance market has seen continued deterioration from natural disasters in 2018, including Typhoon Jebi in Japan and Hurricane Michael in Florida. "The scale of deterioration has been significant, with industry loss estimates having increased materially since these events. As a result, and as previously announced in its first quarter trading statement, the group has strengthened reserves for prior year claims from Typhoon Jebi, Hurricane Michael and for the risk excess book. The combined impact of reserve strengthening for these events is approximately USD40 million net," Hiscox said. Hiscox added that the absence of prior year reserve releases from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which totalled USD25 million in the first six months of 2018, means that it expects reserve releases in the first half to be materially lower than last year.In the FTSE 250, easyJet was up 2.1% after Berenberg raised the budget airline to Buy from Hold.At the other end of the midcaps, Senior was down 3.0% after Peel Hunt downgraded the aerospace and defence engineer to Hold from Add. Elsewhere, Thomas Cook was down 47% after the troubled travel agent said it was in talks with Chinese investor Fosun Tourism Group over a GBP750 million cash injection.Fosun said that it, along with Thomas Cook's "core lending banks", are considering the proposal to invest capital into the troubled firm. Fosun already is Thomas Cook's largest shareholder with an 18% stake.Thomas Cook said the investment - which will likely comprise a capital injection and new financing facilities - will see a reorganisation of the company's Tour Operator and Airline business. This will lead to Fosun owning a "significant" minority interest in Thomas Cook's Airline. The cash strapped tour operator added that its 2019 summer programme is 75% sold - slightly ahead of the year before - but its underlying earnings in the second half will be behind the year before due to the "uncertain consumer environment" in the UK. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.2% on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.4%.It was a strong session on Wall Street on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 227.88 points, or 0.9%, and the S&P 500 up 0.2%. The Dow ended above 27,000 for the first time on Thursday and the S&P closed within touching distance of the 3,000 mark.However, the Nasdaq Composite index closed down 0.1%.The latest equity milestone for the Dow, which was accompanied by a fresh record for the S&P 500, came as US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell completed a second day of congressional testimony, during which he emphasized economic risks in remarks that were widely interpreted as signaling a likely interest rate cut.The pound was quoted at USD1.2550 Friday, flat from USD1.2555 at the London equities close Thursday.The economic events calendar on Friday has eurozone industrial production figures at 1000 BST and US producer prices at 1330 BST.
UK dividends calendar - next 7 days
Friday 31 May | |
abrdn Property Income Trust Ltd | dividend payment date |
Albion Development VCT PLC | dividend payment date |
Alternative Income REIT PLC | dividend payment date |
Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Balanced Commercial Property Trust Ltd | dividend payment date |
Bankers Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Bellevue Healthcare Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
City of London Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
CQS New City High Yield Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
Custodian Property Income REIT PLC | special dividend payment date |
CVC Income & Growth Ltd EURO | dividend payment date |
CVC Income & Growth Ltd GBP | dividend payment date |
Derwent London PLC | dividend payment date |
Diverse Income Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Ecofin Global Utilities & Infrastructure Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
EJF Investments Ltd | dividend payment date |
Elementis PLC | dividend payment date |
Global Opportunities Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Greencoat UK Wind PLC | dividend payment date |
Henderson Far East Income Ltd | dividend payment date |
Henderson International Income Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Henry Boot PLC | dividend payment date |
Ibstock PLC | dividend payment date |
IWG PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan American Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets Ltd | dividend payment date |
Kier Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Marwyn Value Investors Ltd | dividend payment date |
Mobeus Income & Growth VCT PLC | dividend payment date |
NB Global Monthly Income Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Picton Property Income Ltd | dividend payment date |
Portmeirion Group PLC | dividend payment date |
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd | dividend payment date |
PRS REIT PLC | dividend payment date |
Reach PLC | dividend payment date |
Robert Walters PLC | dividend payment date |
Senior PLC | dividend payment date |
Shaftesbury Capital PLC | dividend payment date |
Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) C Ltd | dividend payment date |
STV Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Target Healthcare REIT PLC | dividend payment date |
Taylor Maritime Investments Ltd | dividend payment date |
TwentyFour Select Monthly Income Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
Vesuvius PLC | dividend payment date |
Weir Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Monday 3 June | |
4imprint Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Ascential PLC | special dividend payment date |
Ashtead Technology Holdings PLC | dividend payment date |
BAE Systems PLC | dividend payment date |
J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan China Growth & Income PLC | dividend payment date |
JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust PLC | dividend payment date |
Vector Capital PLC | dividend payment date |
Zotefoams PLC | dividend payment date |
Tuesday 4 June | |
GCP Asset Backed Income Fund Ltd | dividend payment date |
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd | dividend payment date |
Spectra Systems Corp | ex-dividend payment date |
Wednesday 5 June | |
Carr's Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Ecora Resources PLC | dividend payment date |
Epwin Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Genuit Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Glencore PLC | dividend payment date |
Porvair PLC | dividend payment date |
Sabre Insurance Group PLC | special dividend payment date |
Thursday 6 June | |
Aberforth Split Level Income Trust | ex-dividend payment date |
Abrdn European Logistics Income PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
AJ Bell PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Albion Technology & General VCT PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Assura PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Balanced Commercial Property Trust Ltd | ex-dividend payment date |
Billington Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Bodycote PLC | dividend payment date |
Capital Gearing Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Computacenter PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Downing Strategic Micro-Cap Investment Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Energean PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Equals Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
FDM Group Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Gemfields Group Ltd | ex-dividend payment date |
Good Energy Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Helios Underwriting PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Henderson European Focus Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Informa PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Integrafin Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
J Sainsbury PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Jersey Electricity PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
JLEN Environmental Assets Group Ltd | ex-dividend payment date |
Johnson Matthey PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Judges Scientific PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Learning Technologies Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Legal & General Group PLC | dividend payment date |
Marshalls PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Menhaden Resource Efficiency PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Microlise Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
National Grid PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
National World PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Pets At Home Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Renew Holdings PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Restore PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Riverstone Credit Opportunities Income PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Robinson PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
RTC Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Smiths News PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
STS Global Income & Growth Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Topps Tiles PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Utilico Emerging Markets Trust PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Vodafone Group PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
Wickes Group PLC | dividend payment date |
WPP PLC | ex-dividend payment date |
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