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| Thursday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Unilever | 4,671 | 7.88% |
| Sage Group | 753.6 | 6.59% |
| Polymetal International | 1,811.5 | 6.12% |
| Melrose Industries | 108.9 | 5.42% |
| WPP | 626 | 2.93% |
| Thursday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| SSE | 1,337.5 | -6.3% |
| Informa | 406.3 | -5.27% |
| Pennon Group | 1,054 | -3.74% |
| RELX | 1,700 | -3.66% |
| Rolls Royce Holdings | 271.6 | -3.52% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 Year |
| FTSE 100 INDEX | 6,211 | 0.1% | -17.8% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 26,652 | -1.3% | -2.6% |
| DAX INDEX | 13,103 | 0.0% | 4.9% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 22,752 | -0.6% | 5.2% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 6,095 | 0.3% | -10.1% |
Click graph to enlarge
UK 100 called to open -70 points this morning at 6129. Calls for a negative open come as overnight shares in Asia dropped sharply from six month peaks on Friday as tensions between China and the US soured, The United States gave China 72 hours to close its consulate in Houston amid accusations of spying, marking a dramatic deterioration in relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Shares in the US finished down, showing signs that the market rally may have taken a backward step, on the back of the weekly report on initial jobless, benefits claims showing the first increase in weeks. Stocks were lead sharply down by tech giants, Apple and Microsoft both suffering heavy losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 353.51 points lower, 1.3%, at 26,652.33, while the S&P 500 index finished off 40.36 points, or 1.2%, at 3,235.66. The technology-heavy Nasdaq lost 244.71 points, or 2.3%, to reach 10,461.42.
Centrica announces that its has entered into an agreement to sell its North American energy supply, services and trading business, Direct Energy to NRG Energy for $3.625bn in cash.
Cineworld will delay reopening its movie theatres in the USA to mid-August, although it remains on track to re-open in Britain at the end of the month.
Ferguson report that blended branches revenue declined 4.6% in Q2 2020 due to COVID-19, but their eBusiness continued to grow well with revenues +30.4% ahead of last year.
Pearson swings to a loss due to pandemic but sees H2 recovery. Online and underlying sales have fallen 17% in H1 2020, but a recovery has been underway since June. They made an adjusted operating loss of £23m (2019: £144m profit).
Rolls Royce are still considering all options for bolstering its balance sheet in the wake of the pandemic as their CEO Warren East highlighted progress on new technologies to drive future growth.
Vodafone has said it will list its towers unit (Vantage Towers) in Frankfurt in early 2021. They reported a 1.3% decline in Q1 2020 organic service revenue, which it said was mainly due to COVID-19 impacts. They reiterated guidance for the year.
Centica
Vodafone
Ascential
UK – Retail Sales Data
GER – Markit Composite PMI
EU – Markit Composite PMI
UK – Markit Services PMI
US – Markit Services PMI
UK 100:
RELX
UK 250:
Foresight Solar Fund
GCP Infrastructure Investments
BB Healthcare Trust
City of London Investment Trust
Monks Investment Trust
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