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Equities in Europe traded higher in the premarket on Monday ahead of the release of the latest reports on Germany's industrial production and the Eurozone's investor confidence. Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde commented 2021 would be the year of recovering from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the United Kingdom and France saw the lowest number of coronavirus-related deaths in several months.

The DAX traded 0.66% higher at 8:01 am CET. At the same time, the FTSE 100 rose by 0.67%, and the CAC 40 went up by 0.57%.

The euro lost 0.10% to the dollar to change hands for $1.20374 at 8:01 am CET. A minute later, the pound sterling stood flat against the greenback to sell for $1.37321.

Breaking the News / JR

The ailing clothing retailer French Connection has received two separate takeover approaches from potential suitors.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/05/french-connection-receives-two-takeover-offers-as-shares-surge

Two approaches, neither from Boohoo.

Love it when a stock has a strong Friday because I’ve all weekend to look at the price increase, this weekend is special as the share price went up every day.

https://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChart.asp?sharechart=BOO&share=Boohoo

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/retail/the-mysterious-15-billion-brand-taking-on-boohoo-and-fashion-nova

Shares on the major stock market indices in Europe traded mostly higher on Friday, with the German DAX extending gains from its yesterday's all-time high.

After a busy week regarding both data and companies' earnings reports, the traders will keep an eye on the German factory orders figure, as well as the news regarding the house prices in the United Kingdom.

The DAX advanced 0.25% at 7:25 am CET, while the CAC 40 rose by 0.42% at 7:23 am CET. Meanwhile, in London, the FTSE 100 stood flat at 7:26 am CET.

Both the euro and the pound remained unchanged against the dollar at 7:29 am CET, selling for 1.19632 and 1.36826, respectively.

Breaking the News / BU

Happy Friday y’al

Shares on the major stock market indices in Europe traded mostly higher on Friday, with the German DAX extending gains from its yesterday's all-time high.

After a busy week regarding both data and companies' earnings reports, the traders will keep an eye on the German factory orders figure, as well as the news regarding the house prices in the United Kingdom.

The DAX advanced 0.25% at 7:25 am CET, while the CAC 40 rose by 0.42% at 7:23 am CET. Meanwhile, in London, the FTSE 100 stood flat at 7:26 am CET.

Both the euro and the pound remained unchanged against the dollar at 7:29 am CET, selling for 1.19632 and 1.36826, respectively.

Breaking the News / BU

Happy Friday y’al

The guidance for this year delivered by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), including the prospect of a dividend cut, will stifle its share price impetus in the near-term, but Liberum is still expecting the pharmaceutical giant to recover strongly down the line.

Analyst Alistair Campbell retained his ‘buy’ recommendation but reduced the target price from £17.20 to £17.00 on the stock, which closed up 0.2%, or 3p, at £12.85 on Thursday.

He said a 2021 guidance update ‘didn’t mark the turning point we had hoped for and will mark another year of falling earnings’, but that headwinds should be ‘transient’ with the firm’s vaccines division likely to recover in 2022.

‘Furthermore, we saw encouraging signs in the recent performance of the respiratory, HIV, and oncology franchises that reinforce our confidence in the medium-term growth scenario,’ said Campbell.

‘The recovery may be delayed a year but will likely show a sharper bounce.’

Multinational engineer Weir Group (WEIR) helped the Liontrust UK Growth fund to outperform at the end of last year and managers Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh are positive about the sale of its oil and gas division.

Weir’s shares rose 19% during December, boosting the returns of the £609m portfolio. Despite falling 8.3% in 2020, the fund was still ahead of the FTSE All-Share, which slipped 9.8%.

At the end of the year, the group announced it had won a £95m contract to supply aftermarket components and services to a mine in western Australian and, further cementing its place in the mining industry, agreed to sell its oil and gas business.

‘The company also confirmed that the $405m sale of its oil and gas division to Caterpillar is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021 rather than during 2020,’ said the Citywire AA-rated managers.

‘Following the sale, Weir will be focused on providing highly engineered technology to the mining industry.’

Weir’s shares closed down 0.6%, or 11p, at £19.25 yesterday. The stock has slipped just over 3% so far this year.

Covid-19 has put pressure on BT (BT) but Hargreaves Lansdown says the core business is ‘in pretty good shape’ as lockdowns increase demand for online services.

The telecoms giant reported a 6% dip in revenue for the nine months to the end of 2020 following a 5% fall in the third quarter.

Analyst William Ryder said the group was ‘struggling a little’ but the core business was ‘still in pretty good shape, as lockdown means most of us are leaning on our internet access more than ever’.

‘It’s the edges that are starting to fray,’ he said. ‘BT Sport can’t fire on all cylinders without pubs… Likewise, small business customers are under severe pressure and BT’s management expects further insolvencies in the coming months.’

Ryder said there were ‘brighter patches’, including 5G and fibre roll-outs, and so the business is ‘still rumbling on’ despite going though a ‘tough patch’.

The shares closed down 3.2%, or 4.2p, at 125p yesterday.

Peel Hunt has upgraded Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM) as shares in the pizza delivery franchise are underperforming international peers despite a strong year.

Analyst Douglas Jack upgraded his recommendation from ‘add’ to ‘buy’ with a target price of 425p on the stock, which closed down 1.5%, or 5.2p, at 336 yesterday.

‘After a year of good progress for the company, we focus on whether Domino’s’ significant share price underperformance versus the international peer group is justified and how we believe the company can re-accelerate its growth and re-rate its equity,’ he said.

Despite its sometimes fraught relationship with franchisees and the ‘incremental competitive threat from aggregators and aggregator deliverers’, Jack said after ‘recent weakness, we are upgrading our recommendation’.

The management team at JD Sports (JD) is ‘worth backing’ as they manoeuvre to become a major player in sportswear after raising £464m for M&A opportunities, says Shore Capital.

Analyst Greg Lawless reiterated his ‘buy’ recommendation on what he said was a ‘best in class’ retailer with ‘strong cash generation capabilities and tight stock and cost controls’.

‘The company has its hands full right now with the integration of its recently acquired US stable. The additional firepower [from the raise] will be deployed over the medium term as opportunities arise globally. This is a management team worth backing,’ he said.

The analyst added that the company was now well-placed to ‘look at other geographic acquisitions as they arise’ and would be able to act ‘with speed of execution to transact any potential deals’.

The shares closed up 2.2%, or 18p, 833p yesterday.

Bank of England: Economy to rebound strongly due to vaccine https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55934405

Shares on the major stock markets in Europe traded mixed in the premarket on Thursday as the investors awaited the Bank of England's (BoE) decision regarding the interest rates.

On the data front, the traders will also keep an eye on the report on retail sales in the euro area, scheduled for release two hours into the session.

The DAX stood flat at 7:30 am CET, while the FTSE 100 gained 0.11% at the same time. In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped 0.23% at 7:02 am CET.
The euro and the pound fell by 0.17% and 0.27% compared to the dollar, selling for 1.20130 and 1.36006 at 7:32 am CET, respectively.

Breaking the News / BU

Shares on the major stock markets in Europe traded mixed in the premarket on Thursday as the investors awaited the Bank of England's (BoE) decision regarding the interest rates.

On the data front, the traders will also keep an eye on the report on retail sales in the euro area, scheduled for release two hours into the session.

The DAX stood flat at 7:30 am CET, while the FTSE 100 gained 0.11% at the same time. In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped 0.23% at 7:02 am CET.
The euro and the pound fell by 0.17% and 0.27% compared to the dollar, selling for 1.20130 and 1.36006 at 7:32 am CET, respectively.

Breaking the News / BU

Shares on the major stock market indexes in Europe traded higher in the premarket as the investors kept an eye on the data reports regarding the services sector activity in Germany, the United Kingdom, and in the euro area, scheduled for release later in the day.

On the COVID-19 front, French President Emmanuel Macron noted that every French citizen will be offered a vaccine by fall, after a similar claim was made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in regard to her own country.

The DAX rose 0.40% at 7:28 am CET, while the FTSE 100 advanced 0.41% at the same time. In Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.51% higher at 7:11 am CET. Both the euro and the pound sterling stood flat versus the dollar at 7:33 am CET, selling for 1.20402 and 1.36543, respectively.

Breaking the News / BU

Happy hump y’al

Shares on the major stock market indexes in Europe traded higher in the premarket as the investors kept an eye on the data reports regarding the services sector activity in Germany, the United Kingdom, and in the euro area, scheduled for release later in the day.

On the COVID-19 front, French President Emmanuel Macron noted that every French citizen will be offered a vaccine by fall, after a similar claim was made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in regard to her own country.

The DAX rose 0.40% at 7:28 am CET, while the FTSE 100 advanced 0.41% at the same time. In Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.51% higher at 7:11 am CET. Both the euro and the pound sterling stood flat versus the dollar at 7:33 am CET, selling for 1.20402 and 1.36543, respectively.

Breaking the News / BU

Happy hump y’al

Shares on major European stock markets were higher in premarket trade on Tuesday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed yesterday that all of the country's citizens will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the summer. The United Kingdom's Health Secretary Matt Han**** stressed the government must "come down hard" on the South African strain of COVID-19. Also, the country's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has reportedly decided not to raise rates of income tax, national insurance or value-added tax.

The DAX increased by 0.59%, while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.72% at 7:20 am CET. The CAC 40 climbed 0.81% at 7:00 am CET.

The euro was 0.13% higher compared to the dollar at 7:21 am CET, trading for 1.20728. The British pound rose by 0.15% against the American currency, going for 1.36812 at the same time.

Breaking the News / MS

Shares on major European stock markets were higher in premarket trade on Tuesday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed yesterday that all of the country's citizens will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the summer. The United Kingdom's Health Secretary Matt Han**** stressed the government must "come down hard" on the South African strain of COVID-19. Also, the country's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has reportedly decided not to raise rates of income tax, national insurance or value-added tax.

The DAX increased by 0.59%, while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.72% at 7:20 am CET. The CAC 40 climbed 0.81% at 7:00 am CET.

The euro was 0.13% higher compared to the dollar at 7:21 am CET, trading for 1.20728. The British pound rose by 0.15% against the American currency, going for 1.36812 at the same time.

Breaking the News / MS

The online fashion retailer Asos is the new owner of Topshop and other leading brands from Philip Green’s Arcadia empire after a £330 million deal that puts thousands of jobs at risk

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/01/asos-buys-topshop-topman-miss-selfridge-arcadia

The online fashion retailer Asos is the new owner of Topshop and other leading brands from Philip Green’s Arcadia empire after a £330 million deal that puts thousands of jobs at risk

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/01/asos-buys-topshop-topman-miss-selfridge-arcadia