Markets Overview:

UK 100 called to open -130 points at 6912; The stock sell-off extended on Thursday, sending a global benchmark heading for its lowest close since October, while government bond yields sank to record levels. Led lower in Asia by the Nikkei, falling another 2%, seeing another 500 points wiped off the index to close at 21,948. The Hang Seng also dropped, seeing 139 point fall to trade 0.5% lower at 26,557. Trading in China bucked the global trend to close marginally higher 0.18% at 4,080. In the U.S markets saw another complete down day across most of indices the, the Dow Jones closed another 0.5% lower at 26,957, the S&P 500 fell by 0.38% closing at 3,116. The Nasdaq however added 15 points to close 0.17% higher at 8,980. Crude oil fell further overnight, another 2% drop sees Brent Crude oil trading at $52 per barrel. Gold continued to trade higher at $1647.

In corporate news this morning:

Aston Martin posted a £104.3m pretax loss in 2019 as a tough year ultimately ended with lower sales and a share price slump. The loss comes after a 7% decline in wholesale demand. CFO Mark Wilson will step down from his role by the end of April. Disruption to the supply chain due to the coronavirus to certain components did not materially impact production. The company had been supported recently by being provided with short term capital from billionaire Lawrence Stroll.

British American Tobacco (BATS) announced strong operational performace, driving deleveraging.  Adjusted profit from operations grew 7.6% to £11,130m, or 6.6% to £11,032m at constant rates of exchange.  Also expecting adjusted revenue growth in the 3-5% guidance range (at constant rates of exchange), together with continued operating margin improvement and further progress in New Categories towards our 2023/24 ambition of £5bn in revenue.

Evraz net profit saw it slump 85% year on year. This was due primarily to lower vanadium and coal product sales and higher expenses for raw materials. Declares a dividend of 40c per share.

Hikma delivered Group operating profit of $493 million, up 33%.  delivering strong financial performance and made important progress on strategic objectives, including strengthening of operations.

Persimmon reported this morning delivering another strong trading performance in 2019. The Group’s total revenues were £3,649m (2018: £3,738m), with new housing revenues of £3,420m (2018: £3,546m) being 4% lower than last year. The Group sold 15,855 new homes in the year (2018: 16,449) at an average selling price of £215,709 (2018: £215,563), the lowest of any major housebuilder in the UK.

Reckitt Benckiser reported FY comparable sales at the low end of company forecasts as it suffered from a slowdown in demand for over-the counter medicines in the United States and infant formula in China. Revenue +0.8% and FY adjusted EPS of 349p. Stated its too early to asses the impact of Coronavirus virus, they are going to invest £2bn over the next 3 years as they seek to reclaim lost ground to its peers and generate mid-single digit organic revenue growth.

Standard Chartered posts strong results but coronavirus, economic headwinds to hamper profit growth. Underlying profit before tax +8% to $4.2bn. Lower interest rates, slower global growth, softer Hong Kong economy and coronavirus to result in 202 income growth below Medium-term target range.

WPP reported good progress against three year plan: simpler business, stronger balance sheet, full year guidance delivered.  Reported profit before tax -21.9% driven primarily by a significant H1 2018 exceptional gain that has not been repeated.

Source: Bloomberg, FT, Reuters, DJ Newswires, AlphaTerminal

Reporting Today:

Standard Chartered

Reckitt Benckiser

Flutter Entertainment

Hunting

Rentokil

British American Tobacco

Mondi

Persimmon

St James Place

RSA Insurance

Aston Martin

Provident Financial

WPP

Evraz

Hikma

Drax

Staffline

Reporting Tomorrow:

Rolls Royce

London Stock Exchange Group

CRH

Rightmove

Man Group

IAG

In Focus Today:

JP – BOJ Kataoka Speech

EU – Eurozone Business Climate

US – GDP

Today’s Ex Dividends:

UK 100 :

Easyjet

Diageo

Barclays

Astrazeneca

HSBC Holdings

:

Beazley

Witan Investment Trust

Plus 500

Upgrades/Downgrades

Marks & Spencer Downgraded to Underperform by BNP Paribas (Bloomberg: 7 Buys/ 9 Holds/ 7 Sells)

Reckitt Benckiser Upgraded to Buy by Day by Day (Bloomberg: 14 Buys/ 7 Holds/ 5 Sells)

Royal Dutch Shell Downgraded to Sell by Day by Day (Bloomberg: 17 Buys/ 7 Holds/ 2 Sells)

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