LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Higher Call; Landsec Poaches St Modwen CEO

Fri, 22nd Nov 2019 07:45

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are primed to open higher on Friday, after China's leader said it wants to reach a trade deal with the US but won't shy away from a fight.

IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 29.5 points higher at 7259.1 on Friday. The London blue-chip index closed down 23.94 points, or 0.3%, at 7,238.55 on Thursday.

In UK corporate news, property developer Land Securities said Mark Allen will join as chief executive after leaving his role as CEO of St Modwen Properties in May next year. Allen also formerly was the CEO of student accommodation provider Unite Group between 2006 and 2016, Landsec noted.

He is to join the FTSE 100 firm "no later than June 1, 2020", Landsec added.

St Modwen said it was "disappointed" to lose Allen but has begun the process to replace him.

Also making a key executive change was real estate firm Rightmove, naming Andrew Fisher as non-executive chair with effect on January 1.

He is currently a non-executive director at retailer Marks & Spencer and insurance comparison site Moneysupermarket.com, and was formerly executive chair at music recognition mobile app Shazam.

FTSE 250 gambling software firm Playtech warned its adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation will be "a little below consensus".

The company, which provides betting terminals for the likes of Labrokes and Paddy Power, said: "Following a positive start to the second half, trading conditions in TradeTech have been highly challenging during September and October."

Also issuing a full-year earnings warning was mid-cap peer Coats Group. On the back of a "slower sales performance", the industrial threads maker is now guiding for adjusted operating profit between USD196 million and USD201 million.

Adjusted operating profit in 2018 came in at USD195 million.

President Xi Jinping said Friday that China wants to reach an initial trade deal with the US but is "not afraid" to fight back in the trade war.

"When necessary we will fight back but we have been working actively to try not to have a trade war," Xi told former US officials and other foreign dignitaries in Beijing, adding: "We want to work for a phase-one agreement on the basis of mutual respect and equality."

"Trade negotiations continue to dominate sentiment; however, the risk seems to be in a much better place this morning after yesterday morning Liu He headlines saying that he was 'cautiously optimistic' about Phase 1 talks," Axitrader analyst Stephen Innes explained.

He continued: "A lot of happy holidays are riding on Phase 1, and visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in investors' heads might come down to this important date. It's incredible that with months of preparation time to put together a credible road map to guide the markets into a sunny spot, everything always seems to come down to the wire"

Stocks in the US ended in the red on Thursday. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite all closed 0.2% lower.

Stocks in Asia were mixed on Friday, the Nikkei 225 closed 0.3% higher in Tokyo, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.3% higher in late trade. The Shanghai Composite closed 0.6% lower in China.

Elsewhere, a slew of flash PMI readings will provide some distraction from the trade tit-for-tat, with manufacturing and services numbers from Germany, the eurozone, the UK and US due at 0830 GMT, 0900 GMT, 0930 GMT and 1445 GMT respectively.

In Japan, the Jibun Bank flash composite PMI registered a slight rise in November but pointed to a "strongly possibility" the country's economy will contract in the fourth quarter.

The flash composite purchasing manager's index read 49.9 in November, up from October's actual figure of 49.1. The flash manufacturing PMI showed a slight rise to 48.6 in November from 48.4 the previous month, while the flash services PMI indicated a rise into expansionary territory, increasing to 50.4 from 49.7.

Any reading over the no-change mark of 50 indicates expansion, while one below signals contraction.

"The UK manufacturing PMI and services PMI readings are expected to be 49 and 50 respectively. The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has caused an economic malaise in the UK, and investment has tapered off, so the reports will provide an insight into the health of the British economy," CMC Markets analyst David Madden said.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com