|
UK Corporate Announcements
Close Brothers states that trading had been consistent with its last statement, and that its AUM made a small loss as expected
Anglo American announces Q2 iron ore output gained 12% with De Beers H1 total sales of $3.346bn
WH Ireland announces H1 group turnover gained 10.5% from last year to £12.6m and a pre-tax profit of £0.19m
Homeserve states that it continues to grow its international business, and that trading is weighted towards H2 and remains on track
Beazley announces an H1 pre-tax profit of $112.9m from the loss of $24.2m and sees modestly rising premium rates for the remained of the year
Resolution states that its capital position remains robust, as it details that it is cancelling a previously planned £250m capital return
DCC states that it has made a solid start to the year and confirms its full year outlook
Vodafone details that Q1 group service revenues gained 0.6% just under the forecasts of 0.8% seen, and states that trading has been in line with the expectations and confirms its full year outlook
Cable & Wireless Comms states that it is performing in line with the forecasts
Kenmare Resources states that it has completed its placing and raised £38.3m
|
UK Market News
The FTSE has quietly worked its way up to two month highs as the US reporting season continues to give reasons for some optimism
The LSE had an active session yesterday, opening sharply higher, to move back towards unchanged then to rally sharply into the close once more, on the back of talk that it may be in merger talks withSingapore Exchange Ltd, although reports today suggest they are just in talks to expand the current co-operation on swap clearing
The FT suggests that Chancellor Osborne may block a new subsidy regime for renewable energy on concerns that money it attracts could be funds pulled away from much needed investment in gas fired power stations
The IMF stated yesterday that the UK housing market could face an extended slump and that the chancellor may need to amend his tactics if there was no noticeable change in 6 months
The Guardian writes on how government officials have been ‘put out’ by government orders that they should arrive to their free Olympic tickets by public transport, not by ministerial travel, as the coalition fears a possible media backlash
The FSA investigations into Libor manipulations is seen to be spreading outside the ‘Libor 7’ and there are reports that some banks in the Libor 7 are in discussions over a possible group settlement
Goals Soccer Centres announces it has agreed to a cash offer from Goliath at £1.44/share valuing the company at £73.1m
The UK is to sell around £3bn in bills today at 11:10
|
| |
|
UK Analyst Upgrades
Buy Rolls-Royce, Share Price Could Double by 2016, Goldman Says
Meggitt Pt Raised To 470P Vs 430P At Goldman, Stays Neutral
The Restaurant Group Rated New Buy At Ubs, Pt 375P
|
| |
|
UK Analyst Cuts
None Detailed by 06:45
|
| |
|
UK Insider Buys
None Detailed
|
| |
|
UK Insider Sells
Burberry Group Plc, (BRBY), 2 insider(s) sold 165,816 shares, £12.08
IG Group Holdings Plc, (IGG), 1 insider(s) sold 200,000 shares, £4.58
Sepura Ltd, (SEPU), 1 insider(s) sold 1,000,000 shares, £0.7
Synergy Health Plc, (SYR), 2 insider(s) sold 26,250 shares, £9
|
| |
|
Major European Companies Reporting
Investment AB Kinnevik, Q2, 0, London Stock Exchange Group PLC, Q1, 0, Orkla ASA, Q2, 0.857, Publicis Groupe SA, S1, 1.14, Scania AB, Q2, 2.2, Stora Enso OYJ, Q2, 0.115, Sulzer AG, S1, 0, Swedish Match AB, Q2, 3.619, Vodafone Group PLC, Q1, 0.04
|
| |
|
European Market Summary
Late yesterday the German lower house approved the planned bailout of the Spanish banks, while Spain details that plans to give emergency loans to regional administrations, which gives the treasury a further €12bn to find, would not impact on its borrowing plans
Heineken announces it is to offer up to $6bn to take control of Asia Pacific Breweries, it already holds a 42% stake, as it looks to take control of the group, just as Thai Beverage Group starts moves to build a stake of its own
Ireland’s Housing Minister has stated that in some cases the best option for unfinished and unsold property developments will be to bulldoze them, as one apartment block was taken down yesterday, the first of many expected, and a model which may well set the tone for Spain
|
| |
|
S&P 500 Companies Reporting
Amphenol Corp, Q2, 0.841, Baker Hughes Inc, Q2, 0.777, CR Bard Inc, Q2, 1.639, First Horizon National Corp, Q2, -0.457, General Electric Co, Q2, 0.371, Goodrich Corp, Q2, 1.716, Hudson City Bancorp Inc, Q2, 0.139, Ingersoll-Rand PLC, Q2, 0.902, Johnson Controls Inc, Q3, 0.67, Robert Half International Inc, Q2, 0.355, Schlumberger Ltd, Q2, 1, SunTrust Banks Inc, Q2, 0.448, Xerox Corp, Q2, 0.261
S&P 500 Ex Dividends (Gross):- Colgate-Palmolive Co, CL, (0.62)
|
| |
|
Major US Stock Movers After Hours
On a busy day of reporting Google announces strong Q2 earnings, with revenues up 35%, and gained 3% on the news, but disappointed some that it did not give an update on its plans for Motorola Mobility
Microsoft gained 2.5% in late trading as it announced revenues of $20.1bn ahead of forecasts of $19.4bn
Freescale Semiconductor fell over 11% after hours as it announces its sees Q3 sales of around $1bn, under the forecasts , and states that as part of its cost cutting it would sell its corporate jet
|
|
|
US Market News
The SEC may step in again on automatic trades after traders allege that computerised ordersinfluenced the intraday trading of IBM, McDonalds and Coca-Cola yesterday, the intraday graph of Coca-Cola is included below and looking at this it is hard to argue that trading was unusual
Palo Alto, the internet firewall company, is due to start trading on the NSYE today after selling 6.2m shares at $42, ahead of the expected IPO range of $38-40 as demand stays strong for tech IPOs despite the recent disappointing performance by Facebook
Bloomberg details how the five largest Wall Street banks have combined H1 revenues of $161bn, down 4.5% from last year, and the lowest since 2008
Muddy Waters is back in the news as its latest alert, on New Oriental Education & Technology Group, has again flagged up the accounting standards, and level of accounting oversight, on a number of Chinese based, US listed companies
The top US diplomat at the UN has called Russia ‘dangerous and deplorable’ for using its veto to block UN plans to end the violence in Syria
|
|
Overnight Market News
The chief of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission has stated that the lack of innovation is the biggest hurdle for the development of China’s financial sector, flagging up that the Commission is open to new ideas
The Chinese government states that it is now ready to resume nuclear power project approval, after suspending it last year after the disaster in Japan
Sany Heavy Industries has reportedly pulled plans for a Hong Kong IPO citing the market conditions, although with global indices up near 2012 highs and volatility down at traditionally low levels, citing market conditions is not as valid a reason as in previous periods of market strife
Texas Pacific is reportedly considering an offer for Australia’s Nine Entertainment
|
| |
|
Major Global IPOs Due Today
Palo Alto 6.2m shares $42
|
|
|
FX Summary
The pound moved to within a few ticks of a three year high against the euro yesterday, as Spanish yields again came into focus as Spanish borrowing costs worsened at a fresh auction
The Aussie dollar is staying up near 11 week highs as the US QEIII talk continues to support the buyers
‘It is not the return on capital it’s the return OF capital’ is what one fund manager states to help justify the current market rational for negative yields on various European government securities
|
| |
|
Commodity Summary
The FT also highlights how analysts are increasingly preparing for the 2008 Food Crisis to be repeated, as the US drought continues, and as corn and soybean prices touched fresh record highs yesterday
While rice yields in India are expected to sag due to the weakest monsoon in three years slows planting
Gold has stayed subdued all week, after seeing some buying towards the end of last week on the expectation that Bernanke may signal QEIII
|
|
|
Economic Data Due
09:30 UK June PSNCR, £17.9bn previous
13:30 Canada June CPI, -0.1% exp. -0.1% previous
|
|
|
Economic Events
Euro Finance Chiefs Conference Call on Spain’s Bailout
|
|