(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Air France and Airbus will go on trial on Monday on charges of involuntary manslaughter over the fatal 2009 crash of a jet heading to Paris from Brazil, killing all 228 people aboard. Victims' families and some aviation experts say the pilots were insufficiently trained to handle a loss of speed readings caused by crucial equipment freezing over in a storm. Flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of June 1, 2009, after entering a zone near the Equator known for strong turbulence. The Airbus A330 was carrying 12 crew members and 216 passengers. It was the carrier's deadliest crash.
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Anglo American has hired an executive from a Norwegian oil company to lead its diamond business, De Beers, starting early next year. Al Cook is executive vice president of exploration and production international for Equinor, previous to which he led global strategy and business development. Before Equinor, Cook had a 20-year career at UK energy peer BP. As chief executive officer of De Beers, Cook will replace Bruce Cleaver, who will move to co-chair of De Beers Group, alongside Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad.
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Quilter said Paul Feeney will step down as chief executive later this month. The London-based wealth manager said he will be replaced by Steven Levin, who takes over from November 1. "Steven has led Quilter's Affluent segment since its formation and has deep business experience across Quilter and successfully managed Quilter's platform transformation programme. He has been with the group (and its predecessor companies) since June 1998," the company explained.
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DS Smith said trading continues to be very good as it lifted its annual guidance, citing "effective cost mitigation". The London-based packaging firm now expects adjusted operating profit of at least GBP400.0 million for the half year ending October 31, up 45% from GBP276.0 million a year prior. DS Smith said "very strong" revenue growth was driving its improved profitability, despite slightly lower like-for-like corrugated box volumes. For the full financial year, its overall performance is expected to be ahead of previous expectations.
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MARKETS
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Stocks in Asia and Europe were trading lower on Monday, and Wall Street was called to add to the losses suffered on Friday, when the Nasdaq Composite index lost almost 4%. Markets were continuing to adjust to the higher-than-expected job growth achieved by the US in September. The report on Friday solidified expectations for continued aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
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CAC 40: down 0.7% at 5,828.70
DAX 40: up 0.1% at 12,282.99
FTSE 100: down 0.5% at 6,955.95
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Hang Seng: closed down 3.0% at 17,216.66
S&P/ASX 200: down 1.4% at 6,667.80
Tokyo market closed to observe Sports Day holiday.
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DJIA: called down 0.2%
S&P 500: called down 0.3%
Nasdaq Composite: called down 0.5%
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EUR: down at USD0.9702 (USD0.9779)
GBP: down at USD1.1070 (USD1.1130)
USD: firm at JPY145.45 (JPY145.15)
GOLD: down at USD1,684.33 per ounce (USD1,702.27)
OIL (Brent): unchanged at USD97.07 a barrel (USD97.09)
(currency and commodities changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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China's private sector slipped into contraction territory for the first time in four months in September. The Caixin China composite purchasing managers' index fell to 48.5 points in September, from 53.0 in August. It was the first time the composite PMI declined to below the 50.0 no change mark since May. The services PMI dropped to 49.3 points in September from August's tally of 55.0. The manufacturing PMI fell to 48.1 points in September from 49.5 in August.
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China recorded more than 2,000 Covid cases on Monday, its highest level for a month, as officials imposed new lockdowns and restrictions to stop outbreaks from spreading to the capital ahead of the Communist Party Congress. Although the latest case numbers are small by global standards, Beijing's strict zero-Covid policy means any outbreaks must be immediately eradicated. President Xi Jinping, who is expected to secure a historic third term in office, has championed the policy, and any significant outbreak ahead of Sunday's Congress opening would prove highly embarrassing for the party. In Shanghai, tens of thousands of people were under lockdown on Monday, after multiple neighbourhoods were suddenly closed off over the weekend, following the discovery on Friday of 23 new infections.
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The US on Friday announced new export controls aimed at restricting China's ability to buy and manufacture high-end chips with military applications, stepping up tensions between the countries. The moves complicate Beijing's push to further its own semiconductor industry and develop advanced military systems, and come days ahead of a major party congress in China at which President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a historic third term. The rules, announced by the US Department of Commerce, include export restrictions on some chips used in supercomputing, and toughen requirements on the sale of semiconductor equipment.
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The Bank of England said it has doubled the size of a temporary bond-buying programme, which it kicked off following market turmoil after the UK government's mini-budget announcement last month. The bank doubled the size of daily auctions to a maximum of GBP10 billion, from GBP5 billion before. Following the announcement of the mini-budget last month, and the turmoil that ensued, the Bank of England decided to buy up long-dated UK government bonds, or gilts. It affirmed that the scheme will end this week.
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Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has bowed to pressure to bring forward the publication of his financial strategy and independent economic forecasts – to Halloween. Completing another U-turn, Kwarteng agreed to set out his medium-term fiscal plan alongside Office for Budget Responsibility predictions on October 31. The chancellor had been resisting setting out the details ahead of November 23 after he set out his multibillion-pound package of tax cuts to be paid for by borrowing.
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Germany's Social Democrats on Sunday won a closely-fought regional election that was dominated by worries over soaring energy costs, giving Chancellor Olaf Scholz a welcome boost as a difficult winter looms. Scholz's centre-left SPD was set to remain the largest force in the coastal state of Lower Saxony, taking around 32.7-33.3% of the vote, according to exit polls by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. The conservative CDU party of former chancellor Angela Merkel came a distant second at 27.5%, its worst result in the state in six decades.
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Following the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea a fortnight ago, Germany's police and navy have deployed an investigative team to shed light on the source of the leaks. Police officials confirmed to dpa on Sunday that officers had been "deployed to the Baltic Sea near the island of Bornholm with the support of the navy and [a] federal police vessel." The four leaks, simultaneously detected at the end of September on the two underwater pipelines intended to carry gas from Russia to Germany, led to massive environmental damage from enormous amounts of leaked gas.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of targeting energy facilities and civilians in its wave of missile attacks on Kiev and other major cities. "We are dealing with terrorists," Zelensky shared on Telegram. "They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy infrastructure." Dozens of missiles and Iranian drones have attacked energy facilities across the country, including areas in western Ukraine, Zelensky said. Earlier, there had been a series of heavy rocket attacks on the centre of Ukraine's capital, Kiev. Explosions were also reported in several other major cities.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday blamed Ukrainian secret services for the huge blast a day earlier that ripped through Russia's Crimea bridge, which he described as a "terrorist act". "The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services," Putin said during a meeting with the head of the investigation committee, according to a video shared by the Kremlin. A truck bomb on Saturday ignited a massive fire on the road and rail link between Russia and the annexed Crimea peninsula, killing three people.
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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