(Alliance News) - The World Health Organization has warned the blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread of Omicron, as more countries rushed to impose curbs and amid a report that the variant was present in Europe before being first identified in Africa.
In the week since the new virus strain was reported by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions – most targeting southern African nations.
But the World Health Organization warned Tuesday that "blanket" travel bans risked doing more harm than good, AFP reports, just as Canada expanded its restrictions.
In a travel advisory, the WHO warned the bans could ultimately dissuade countries from sharing data about the evolving virus.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was understandable for countries to seek to protect their citizens "against a variant we don't yet fully understand".
But he called for the global response to be "calm, coordinated and coherent", urging nations to "take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures".
The likely futility of broad travel restrictions was underscored as Dutch authorities reported that Omicron was present in the country before South Africa officially reported its first cases on November 25.
The new variant – whose high number of mutations the WHO believes may make it more transmissible or resistant to vaccines – was found in two Dutch test samples from November 19 and 23, with one having no travel history.
So far, well over a dozen countries and territories have detected cases, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy and Portugal.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open on Wednesday:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: up 1.1% at 7,139.22
----------
Hang Seng: up 0.8% at 23,658.92
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.4% at 27,935.62
S&P/ASX 200: closed down 0.3% at 7,235.90
----------
DJIA: closed down 652.22 points, or 1.9%, at 34,483.72
S&P 500: closed down 88.27 points, or 1.9%, at 4,567.00
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 245.14 points, or 1.6%, at 15,537.69
----------
EUR: up at USD1.1323 (USD1.1280)
GBP: up at USD1.3316 (USD1.3245)
USD: unchanged at JPY113.38
Gold: up at USD1,785.72 per ounce (USD1,776.50)
Oil (Brent): up at USD71.13 a barrel (USD70.75)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Wednesday's key economic events still to come
0955 CET Germany manufacturing purchasing managers' index
1000 CET EU eurozone manufacturing PMI
0930 GMT UK manufacturing PMI
1100 GMT Ireland monthly unemployment
0815 EST US ADP national employment report
0945 EST US manufacturing PMI
1000 EST US ISM report on manufacturing
1030 EST US EIA weekly petroleum status report
1400 EST US Beige Book
1600 EST US domestic auto industry sales
----------
Manufacturing in China fell slightly in November, data from IHS Markit showed Wednesday, with output growing but power supply issues hurting total new business. The Caixin China general manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped to just below the neutral mark at 49.9 in November from 50.6 in October. IHS Markit noted this is only the second time since April 2020 the manufacturing sector has fallen into contractionary territory. On Tuesday, official government data showed manufacturing activity in China edged up in November. The purchasing managers' index in the world's second biggest economy rose to 50.1, returning above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction after two months.
----------
Japan's manufacturing sector saw a quicker rate of growth in November as operating conditions continued to improve, data from IHS Markit showed. For November, the headline au Jibun Bank manufacturing purchasing managers' index increased to 54.5 points from 53.2 in October, a three-year high since January 2018 and marking the 10th consecutive month of growth. The improvement in operating conditions for the month was attributed to the fastest rise in production volumes since April 2021, through increased orders in spite of difficulties in finding raw materials.
----------
The pace of growth in the Irish manufacturing sector slackened last month, with November seeing the slowest increase in new orders since March, according to survey results from IHS Markit. The AIB Ireland manufacturing purchasing managers' index read 59.9 points in November, down from 62.1 in October. Though indicating the slowest improvement in the factory sector since March, the November score still was higher than any month before March since the survey began in May 1998. It also remained well above the neutral 50-point mark.
----------
Annual house price growth hit 10% in the UK in November, according to an index. The increase marked an acceleration from 9.9% growth in October, Nationwide Building Society said. Prices rose by 0.9% month on month, taking the average UK property value to GBP252,687. Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "House prices are now almost 15% above the level prevailing in March last year when the pandemic struck the UK. There have been some signs of cooling in housing market activity in recent months; for example, the number of housing transactions were down almost 30% year on year in October. But this was almost inevitable, given the expiry of the stamp duty holiday."
----------
The UK national average price of property coming to market will rise by 5% next year, Rightmove predicted, as strong buyer demand and a historically low level of available properties will push up prices in 2022. The property portal noted that there will be market variations to this, with the most competitive markets being in Scotland, the West Midlands, the South West and Yorkshire and the Humber. These areas are likely to see price growth at a higher rate of upwards of 7% next year. Buyer demand is now currently up by 2% on the frenetic period this time last year, and up by 40% when compared with November 2019.
----------
UK retail shop prices rose in November driven by rising food prices and non-food deflation slowing, according to the latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ figures. On an annual basis, the UK shop price index rose by 0.3% in November, reversing October's decline of 0.4%. This is the first time that prices have risen since May 2019, it said. In addition, the BRC said food inflation accelerated to 1.1% in November, more than doubled from 0.5% rise in October. This is the highest inflation rate since November 2020, it added. Fresh food inflation accelerated to 1.2% in November from 0.3% in October, which was the highest inflation rate since August 2019.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
JPMorgan raises BT Group to "Analyst Focus List" - Top Pick 2022
----------
SocGen raises Diageo to 'Buy' (Sell) - price target 4,500 (3,050) pence
----------
Barclays raises Dr Martens to 'Overweight' (Equal Weight) - price target 480 pence
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
Aviva said it has completed its exit from Italy with the sale of its life insurance businesses there to CNP Assurances. Aviva said it has received GBP462 million in cash from the completed sale. "In the last 24 hours we have completed the sales of both Aviva Poland and our Italian life insurance business," said Chief Executive Officer Amanda Blanc. "These are major steps forward as we radically simplify Aviva."
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Power station operator Drax Group said it expects full-year earnings to be around the top end of analyst forecasts. Drax said its biomass and pumped storage generation assets in the UK have played an important role as the nation's power system came under stress from higher gas prices, European interconnector issues, and periods of low wind. Drax said it has been able to increase forward hedged prices in 2022 and 2023. Drax continues to expect the Customers business to return to profitability at the adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation level for 2021. Drax now expects group adjusted Ebitda for 2021 around the top of the range of current analyst expectations, subject to a good performance in December. It placed consensus at GBP380 million with a range of GBP374 million to GBP391 million. In 2020, Drax booked adjusted Ebitda from continuing operations of GBP366 million, down from GBP371 million in 2019. In a separate capital markets update on Wednesday, Drax said it is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, underpinned by an aim to double sales of biomass to third parties to 4 million tonnes per year.
----------
Contracts-for-difference trading provider IG Group plans to sell North American Derivatives Exchange and a 39% stake in Small Exchange to Foris DAX Markets, part of crypto.com, for USD216 million in cash. The deal is expected to complete in the first half of 2022 and is not expected to materially alter IG's medium-term revenue expectations. "We're really excited by this deal, as it delivers a significant return on the previous investments made in Nadex and Small Exchange and enables additional investment across all our businesses," said Chief Executive June Felix.
----------
Commercial vehicle hire business Redde Northgate said interim trading was ahead of expectations and full-year profit is seen "at least" in line with consensus. Total revenue for the half-year to October 31 rose 10% to GBP612.9 million from GBP556.0 million year-on-year, and pretax profit jumped to GBP71.7 million from GBP25.9 million. Redde will pay out an interim dividend of 6.0p, up 77% on a year ago. "We are pleased to have delivered a strong H1 performance driven by high demand for our products and services and underlying margin gains," said Chief Executive Martin Ward. UK&I rental margins improved to 17.6% in the period from 12.7% a year ago, while margins in Spain improved to 17.1% from 15.0%. Redde said full-year underlying pretax profit should be "at least in line" with consensus.
----------
COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
----------
Car dealership Pendragon now expects 2021 underlying pretax profit to be GBP80.0 million, up from October's guidance of GBP70.0 million. This, in turn, had been raised from a prior guidance range of GBP55.0 million to GBP60.0 million. Behind the latest upgrade was a strong performance in the fourth quarter so far. Demand for new vehicles continues to outstrip supply, but the shortfall in October and November was lower than feared and performance supported by strong margins, Pendragon said. Used vehicles continue to perform well, it said, with strong margins underpinned by favourable market conditions. "The board is confident that the group's strategy positions it well to respond to the ongoing market uncertainty and to capitalise on any resultant opportunities," Pendragon added.
----------
Wednesday's shareholder meetings
Avation PLC - AGM
Gabelli Merger Plus+ Trust PLC - AGM
London Finance & Investment Group PLC - AGM
Playtech PLC - GM re Finalto sale
Third Point Investors Ltd - EGM re requisition from AVI on board removal
Western Selection PLC - AGM
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Aviva (AV.)
Diageo (DGE)
BT (BT.A)
