UK : Stocks factors to watch on Nov 4
Britain’s FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 24 points at 6,766 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures down 0.6 percent ahead of the cash market open.* The UK blue chip index closed down 0.8 percent at 6,790.51 points on Thursday, after the government lost a court case on how to trigger the process for leaving the European Union and the Bank of England shifted away from cutting interest rates further.
* IAG: British Airways-owner IAG stuck to its long-term earnings and margin growth targets, shrugging off a deterioration in the travel environment this year, and indicating that the outlook for shareholder returns was positive.
* TULLETT PREBON: British interdealer broker Tullett Prebon Plc reported a jump in third-quarter revenue, boosted by a fall in the value of sterling and volatility brought on by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
* PADDY POWER BETFAIR: Paddy Power Betfair, increased its full-year profit guidance on Friday citing a boost in the sterling value of its euro revenue, this year’s merger and favourable sporting results.
* VODAFONE: Vodafone’s Dutch subsidiary said on Friday it had sold fixed-line operations with around 150,000 customers to Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile Nederland for an undisclosed sum.
* DFS FURNITURE: U.S. private equity firm Advent International Corp said it had cut its stake by half in British furniture retailer DFS Furniture Plc .
* STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered Plc has named Nainesh Jaisingh the new head of its private equity unit, even as the Asia-focused bank looks to reduce its private investments exposure over the next few years, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
* GLENCORE: Glencore Plc said on Friday it has won approval from the New South Wales state government to extend the life of its Mount Owen coal complex in Australia by 12 years to 2031.
* BRITISH LAND: British Land Company Plc, one of London’s biggest office landlords, is looking to put its 50 percent stake in the “Cheesegrater” skyscraper in the financial district up for sale, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
* GSK: British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc secured a victory in a three-year court battle against a Hyderabad company over its trademark rights, the Economic Times reported. (bit.ly/2ejQC5r)
* UK HOUSING: Brexit will end British house prices growth in 2017 and lead to a slump in transactions, estate agents Savills said on Friday, in the latest sign Britain’s once red-hot housing market is beginning to cool.
* CAR SALES: British new car registrations increased by around 1 percent year-on-year last month, according to preliminary data from an industry body, with overall sales figures appearing to weather any hit from the Brexit vote so far.
* UK INTEREST RATES: The Bank of England scrapped its plan to cut interest rates, which it said could now move up or down, and raised its forecasts for 2017 growth and inflation sharply due to the slide in sterling since Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
* OIL: Oil prices edged up on Friday, stabilising after five straight days of falls, although a surge in U.S. crude inventories and doubts over the ability of producers to coordinate output cuts continued to keep a lid on the market.
