Monday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,078.01, an increase of 35.09 points.
– The FTSE 250 rose by 28.93 points to finish at 16,836.95.
– The FTSE All Share climbed by 14.02 points to 3,348.39.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 731.85, down 1.16 points.

Things continue to look bleak in the North Sea as the UK Oil and Gas Authority said that the industry has cut more than 5,000 jobs since late 2014. Production has continued to drop and at least two operators intend to halt production on their fields ahead of schedule.

Tesco (TSCO) has agreed to sell its Korean arm Homeplus to a consortium of investors for a cash consideration of £4 billion. Proceeds from the deal will be principally used to pay down debt and completion is expected to take place in the final quarter of this year. Societe Generale maintained its “hold” rating and said that the price was roughly in line with its NAV estimates, but warned that balance sheets were still tight. The shares closed flat at 185.95p.

Associated British Foods (ABF) expects to meet expectations for the year ended 12 September, with operating profits set to decline due to the strength of the pound and the decline in margins on sugar production. Returns improved in a number of other divisions in constant currency terms. In particular, the firm’s Primark chain has continued to see success as it expands in to new markets. The shares fell by 26p to 3,113p.

Miner Glencore (GLEN) announced that it will suspend dividends and work harder to cut its net debts as the collapse in commodity prices shows little sign of abating. The company will issue $2.5 billion (£1.64 billion) of new equity and save up to $7.7 billion (£5.04 billion) over the period up to December 2016. The firm will suspend some 400,000 tonnes of copper production during the next 18 months. Glencore shares jumped 7.02% to 131.80p.

Proxama (PROX) has signed a long term exclusivity agreement with taxi advertising specialist Ubiquitous. Under the terms of the arrangement, Proxama will install bluetooth “beacons” in 4,000 black cabs that will beam ads to passengers. No financial details of the arrangement were released, but management believe there is a great opportunity with the captive cab audience. The shares grew by 10.20% to 1.35p.

Tomorrow’s news today

Ashmore (ASHM) and Redrow (RDW) will publish final results on Tuesday morning, while Petards (PEG) and Hilton Food Group (HFG) will put out their interims.

Quote of the day

“Don’t stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed.”
– George Burns