ADVFN Logo

We could not find any results for:
Make sure your spelling is correct or try broadening your search.

Trending Now

Toplists

It looks like you aren't logged in.
Click the button below to log in and view your recent history.

Hot Features

Registration Strip Icon for charts Register for streaming realtime charts, analysis tools, and prices.

ADVFN Morning London Market Report: Wednesday 11 January 2023

Share On Facebook
share on Linkedin
Print

London open: FTSE edges up as JD Sports rallies, Sainsbury’s falls

© ADVFN

London stocks edged higher in early trade on Wednesday, taking their cue from a positive session on Wall Street after US Fed chair Jerome Powell refrained from saying anything about rate policy in a speech in Sweden.

At 0820 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,706.99.

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted the fact that Powell failed to make any comments on forthcoming monetary policy.

“While that won’t have directly given the markets something to digest, there is an element of no news is good news,” she said.

“Reports of global supply chain bottlenecks easing, and the reopening of China mean that ultimately, markets are baking in some renewed optimism. There is a ceiling to this good mood, though. Stock markets remain highly sensitive and have been prone to some misdirection in recent trading days.”

In equity markets, JD Sports Fashion was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after saying it expects annual profits to be at the top end of expectations after revenues grew by more than a fifth over the Christmas period.

Current market expectations for the year to January 28 are for group profit before tax and exceptional items of £933m-985m although the final figure will reflect trading through the rest of January with the post-Christmas sale period still to take place in some of the company’s most important European markets.

Insurer Direct Line tanked more than 25% after saying it no longer expects to declare a final dividend for 2022 as it took a hit from claims related to severe cold weather and increases in motor inflation.

The company noted the recent prolonged period of sub-zero temperatures across the UK. Although it is still relatively early, Direct Line expects claims associated with the cold snap to be around £90m across Home and Commercial.

This, together with the freeze event from January 2022 and subsidence related claims over the summer means that it currently expects total weather claims of around £140m for 2022, versus its previous expectations of £73m.

Cybersecurity firm Darktrace also tumbled after it lowered annual revenue forecasts as potential customers balked at trialling the company’s products amid the tougher macro-economic environment.

Sainsbury’s was in the red even as it increased full-year profits guidance after “record” Christmas trading. The supermarket chain said sales in the 16 weeks to 7 January 2023 rose by 5.2%, excluding fuel, or by 5.9% on a like-for-like basis. In the Christmas trading period – the six weeks to 7 January – sales jumped 7.1%.

Recruiter PageGroup lost ground after it downgraded its full-year profit expectations following a slowdown in the fourth quarter.

 

Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers

Sponsored by Plus500

Buy

Sell

84% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
# Name Change Pct Change Cur Price
1 Anglo American Plc +2.88% +100.50 3,594.00
2 Bt Group Plc +2.76% +3.45 128.60
3 Glencore Plc +2.64% +14.10 548.20
4 Antofagasta Plc +2.56% +45.00 1,799.50
5 Bhp Group Limited +2.44% +66.00 2,774.50
6 Rolls-royce Holdings Plc +2.26% +2.28 103.30
7 3i Group Plc +2.11% +29.50 1,428.50
8 Carnival Plc +2.06% +14.20 704.00
9 Marks And Spencer Group Plc +2.05% +2.90 144.20
10 Fresnillo Plc +1.98% +18.60 960.00

 

Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers

Sponsored by Plus500

Buy

Sell

84% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
# Name Change Pct Change Cur Price
1 Direct Line Insurance Group Plc -27.93% -64.90 167.50
2 Admiral Group Plc -8.05% -183.00 2,089.00
3 Aviva Plc -3.53% -16.20 442.20
4 Sainsbury (j) Plc -2.07% -5.10 240.70
5 Legal & General Group Plc -1.97% -5.10 253.20
6 Imperial Brands Plc -1.75% -36.00 2,016.00
7 Hiscox Ltd -1.52% -17.00 1,103.00
8 British American Tobacco Plc -1.49% -47.00 3,106.50
9 Barratt Developments Plc -1.42% -6.00 417.60
10 Ferguson Plc -1.31% -150.00 11,310.00

 

US close: Stocks mixed as investors await bank earnings

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Monday as major indices struggled to extend gains recorded in their first strong session of 2023.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.34% at 33,517.65 and the S&P 500 slipped 0.08% to 3,892.09, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.63% firmer at 10,635.65.

The Dow closed 112.96 points lower on Monday following a strong performance in the previous session after non-farm payrolls came in slightly higher than expected.

Monday marked the beginning of another week full of key macroeconomic data, with last month’s consumer price index out on Thursday, while earnings will also be in focus, as the likes of Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Delta Air Lines all report their latest quarterly figures on Friday.

As far as the bank earnings go, investors will zero in on the level of bad loan provisions and mortgages, given that although rising interest rates will be good for earnings, higher-than-expected interest rates will likely threaten credit quality, loan growth, and net interest margins.

Capitol Hill was also drawing an amount of investor attention after Republican Kevin McCarthy finally became US House Speaker after battling through 15 rounds and four days of chaotic voting. However, many view McCarthy’s job to come as being even more difficult than his path to seize the gavel in the first place.

On Monday’s macro slate, consumer credit increased to $27.96bn in November, according to the Federal Reserve, up from $27.08bn a month earlier.

In the corporate space, Uber shares traded higher after analysts at Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’, while WD-40 posted first-quarter earnings and revenues that fell short of expectations.

 

Wednesday newspaper round-up: Independent bookshops, car makers, Boohoo

Lidl, Zara’s owner Inditex, H&M and Next have been accused of paying garment suppliers in Bangladesh during the pandemic less than the cost of production, leaving factories struggling to pay the country’s legal minimum wage. In a survey of 1,000 factories in the country producing clothes for UK retailers, 19% of Lidl’s suppliers made the claim, as did 11% of Inditex’s, 9% of H&M’s and 8% of Next’s. – Guardian

Independent bookshops largely saw “average” sales over the 2022 festive period, according to a new survey. A majority of bookshops – 39% – that took part in trade magazine the Bookseller’s annual survey said they had average sales compared with the same period of 2021, while 29% of bookshops said the period was “very good”. – Guardian

Carmakers plan to slash the number of electric vehicles they manufacture as the spiralling cost of battery-powered models makes them increasingly unaffordable for drivers, an industry body has warned. The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), a green energy group that sits between government and manufacturers, has slashed its estimate for UK EV production in 2025 by a quarter after just three months. – Telegraph

Fund manager Terry Smith has accused Unilever of “virtue signalling” rather than focusing on financial performance in a fresh salvo against the ice cream-to-deodorant maker. The stock picker, whose £22bn Fundsmith vehicle is the 15th largest shareholder in Unilever, accused the company of failing to listen to the concerns of investors and criticised the consumer goods giant’s marketing. – Telegraph

Boohoo Group, the online fast-fashion retailer based in Manchester, is preparing to cut 100 jobs at its office in Soho, London. Most of the jobs under threat are in the ecommerce, buying and design departments. A consultation phase began last week but a decision on the final number of has not been made. From February 20 teams from brands that Boohoo bought such as Burton, Coast, Dorothy Perkins, Karen Millen, Oasis and Wallis will move under the Debenhams.com umbrella. – The Times

 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR FREE ON ADVFN, the world's leading stocks and shares information website, provides the private investor with all the latest high-tech trading tools and includes live price data streaming, stock quotes and the option to access 'Level 2' data on all of the world's key exchanges (LSE, NYSE, NASDAQ, Euronext etc).

This area of the ADVFN.com site is for independent financial commentary. These blogs are provided by independent authors via a common carrier platform and do not represent the opinions of ADVFN Plc. ADVFN Plc does not monitor, approve, endorse or exert editorial control over these articles and does not therefore accept responsibility for or make any warranties in connection with or recommend that you or any third party rely on such information. The information available at ADVFN.com is for your general information and use and is not intended to address your particular requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by ADVFN.COM and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any investment decisions. Authors may or may not have positions in stocks that they are discussing but it should be considered very likely that their opinions are aligned with their trading and that they hold positions in companies, forex, commodities and other instruments they discuss.

Leave A Reply

 
Do you want to write for our Newspaper? Get in touch: newspaper@advfn.com