UK : Factors to watch on 13 Dec 2016
Britain’s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 5 points higher, or up 0.07 percent on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.17 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* The UK blue chip index closed 0.9 percent lower on Monday at 6,890.42, with outsourcing group Capita extending its recent losses and precious metals miners tracking a fall in gold prices to 10-month lows.
* GLENCORE: Glencore Plc and Nippon Steel have agreed on a price of $ 285 a tonne for first-quarter coking coal supplies, a 43 percent hike over the previous quarter, a source close to the situation said on Tuesday.
* ANTOFAGASTA: Antofagasta Minerals said on Monday that environmental regulators approved a proposed expansion of its Centinela mine in northern Chile, opening the door for a $ 4.35 billion investment by the Chilean copper mining company.
* SKY: Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox aims to table a firm cash bid valuing British broadcaster Sky at 10.75 pounds per share as early as Wednesday for the 61 percent of the company it does not already own, four people familiar with the matter said.
* LLOYDS BANKING GROUP: Britain cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to below 7 percent on Tuesday as it continued with a fresh attempt to return the lender to full private ownership over the next year.
* BALFOUR BEATTY: British construction company Balfour Beatty said it was on track to deliver cost saving targets in line with a long-term turnaround plan, adding that it was confident that margins would recover over the next two years.
* BELLWAY: Bellway became the latest British housebuilder to shrug off the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote as it said on Tuesday that its reservations rate rose 7 percent during the four months since August.
* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto, said on Monday it would defend itself robustly if rival miner BSG Resources (BSGR) pursues a threat to file a lawsuit over mining rights in Guinea.
* SHELL: A consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell beat 26 other bids for a contract to build 700 megawatts of offshore wind capacity, the Dutch government said as it announced plans for a further seven wind farms to be build in the next decade.
* LONMIN: South Africa-focused platinum miner Lonmin is confident of submitting a plan to build workers’ housing that meets government requirements, it said on Monday, after President Jacob Zuma threatened to revoke its mining permit if it failed to do so.
* LSE: European Union competition regulators have whittled down their concerns about the merger of Deutsche Boerse and London Stock Exchange Group to focus mainly on clearing of derivatives contracts, two sources familiar with the situation said.
* BREXIT: Britain will need a transitional trade agreement with the European Union, and the government should set out plans for it before beginning formal divorce talks with the bloc, members of parliament’s upper house said on Tuesday.
European Union leaders will set out plans this week for negotiating Britain’s exit, diplomats said, after national officials met late on Monday to prepare an EU summit statement.
* BREXIT: The European Commission will unveil proposed changes on Tuesday in how governments treat unemployment and other benefits for citizens working in other EU states.
Britain will introduce a system to control the flow of workers from EU countries once it leaves the bloc but will not cut off the supply of skilled staff needed by British companies, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Monday.
Hammond on Monday backed the idea of a transition period to smooth the process of leaving the European Union, and said EU countries also stood to gain from a gradual Brexit.
* BREXIT: A deal to bridge the gap between Brexit and the introduction of Britain’s new trading terms with the European Union could shield financial firms from any abrupt changes and ultimately keep them based in the UK, a senior lawmaker said.
* UK COMPANIES TAX BILL: Britain should address the way some workers use companies to lessen their tax bill, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Monday, adding that any changes were an issue for the long term.
* UK HOUSEHOLD SPEND: Households in Britain spend more than anywhere else in Europe, helping to drive the country’s economy through its Brexit shock this year, global accountancy firm PwC said in a report published on Tuesday.
* OIL: Oil prices were stable on Tuesday, buoyed by soaring demand in Asia and as signs of a crude production cut organised by OPEC and other exporters materialised, tightening a market that has been grappling with years of oversupply.
* METALS: Shanghai copper futures dropped more than a percentage point on Tuesday, with investors focused on a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that kicks off later in the session, overlooking modestly better-than-expected Chinese industrial output growth in November.
