(Alliance News) - Stocks were called lower on Friday, joining peers in the US and Asia, ahead of a GDP print from the eurozone later in the day, and following a data-heavy week globally.
In early corporate news, Next 15 said it would be lowering forecasts for financial years 2025 and 2026, after a contract with Mach49's largest customer was not renewed.
Meanwhile, UK house prices rose in August at the fastest annual rate in nearly two years, after the Bank of England cut its interest rate to 5% from 5.25% on August 1.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called down 19.1 points, or 0.2%, at 8,233.20
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Hang Seng: down 0.1% at 17,444.30
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.5% at 36,489.10
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.4% at 8,013.40
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DJIA closed down 219.22 points, 0.5%, at 40,755.75
S&P 500 closed down 0.3% at 5,503.41
Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.3%, at 17,127.66
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EUR: up at USD1.1119 (USD1.1082)
GBP: up at USD1.3182 (USD1.3160)
USD: down at JPY142.53 (JPY143.94)
GOLD: up at USD2,519.40 per ounce (USD2,505.80)
OIL (Brent): down at USD72.84 a barrel (USD73.01)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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Friday's key economic events still to come:
08:30 EDT Canada unemployment
08:30 EDT Canada average hourly wages
11:00 CEST eurozone GDP
11:00 CEST eurozone unemployment
09:00 CEST eurozone European Central Bank executive board member Frank Elderson speaks
08:45 CEST France industrial production
08:45 CEST France current account
08:45 CEST France trade balance
19:30 CEST Germany Deutsche Bundesbank executive board member Burkhard Balz speaks
11:00 IST Ireland construction output
10:00 CEST Italy retail sales
09:00 CEST Switzerland consumer confidence
08:30 EDT US average weekly hours
08:30 EDT US unemployment
11:00 EDT US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller speaks
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UK house prices rose in August at the fastest annual rate in nearly two years, data published by Halifax showed Friday. UK house prices jumped 4.3% year-on-year in August, accelerating from 2.4% growth in July and the strongest rate since November 2022. July's annual growth was upwardly revised from a previously reported 2.3%. It beat FXStreet-cited market consensus of 4.2%. On a monthly basis, UK house price growth decelerated to 0.3% in August from 0.9% in July, the earlier month's growth upwardly revised from a previously reported 0.8%. August's growth was higher than consensus of 0.2%. The average UK house price stood at GBP292,505 in August, up from GBP280,372 a year ago and from GBP291,585 in July. "Recent price rises build on a largely positive summer for the UK housing market. Prospective homebuyers are feeling more confident thanks to easing interest rates. That optimism is reflected in the latest mortgage approval figures, now at their highest level in almost two years," said Amanda Bryden, head of Mortgages at Halifax. On August 1, the Bank of England cut its interest rate to 5.00% from 5.25%.
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Republican White House candidate Donald Trump unveiled a plan Thursday to install tech billionaire Elon Musk at the head of a government efficiency commission to eliminate "trillions" of dollars in wasteful spending. Trump told business executives at a speech in New York that Musk – the world's richest man, according to Forbes – would oversee a "complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government" in a second Trump administration. "As the first order of business, this commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months. This will save trillions of dollars," he said. Trump – whose administration oversaw an USD8.2 trillion rise in the national debt, almost twice as much as President Joe Biden's – has not publicly identified any of the savings and experts are sceptical about the size of the savings.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged both Israel and Hamas to finalise a Gaza truce, standing by US assessments that 90% of a deal was ready. Blinken said that the US would be offering further ideas in coming days through mediators Egypt and Qatar in hopes of sealing an agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Fox News on Thursday denied a US official's assessment that 90% of a deal was ready, saying "it's not close." But Blinken repeated the assessment at a news conference during a visit to Haiti, saying, "I think based on what I've seen, 90% is agreed." "It's really incumbent on both parties to get to yes on these remaining issues," Blinken said. "As close as I believe we are to getting a ceasefire agreement, every day that goes by where it is not finalised and the parties don't say, 'yes, period,' is a day in which something else happens, and there is an intervening event which simply pushes things off and runs the risk of derailing what is a pretty fragile apple cart," he said.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday visits Germany where Ukraine's military backers are meeting, days after one of the deadliest strikes of the war and as Russian forces make battlefield gains. Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold "one-on-one" talks in Frankfurt, according to a German government spokesman, who did not give further details about the Ukrainian leader's programme. But German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that Zelensky will also attend the gathering of Kyiv's backers, which includes the US, at the US Ramstein Air Base. The meeting at the base southwest of Frankfurt is being hosted by US defence chief Lloyd Austin. Zelensky's presence is intended to underline "the seriousness of the situation" on the ground in Ukraine, Spiegel said, days after 55 people were killed and 300 wounded in a Russian missile strike on the city of Poltava.
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The restoration of the Northern Ireland political institutions and legacy will be discussed at the British Irish Association conference, Ireland's deputy premier Micheal Martin has said. The annual conference featuring political, civic and church leaders from across the island of Ireland and Britain takes place in Oxford on Friday and Saturday. Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and new Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn will also attend. Martin said he will also have the opportunity to meet with Scottish Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson. He said his discussions with Benn are expected to cover legacy issues, the restoration of the institutions in Northern Ireland and the implementation of the Windsor Framework. The tanaiste will address the conference on Saturday morning and take part in a joint discussion with the Northern Ireland secretary.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Barclays cuts Antofagasta price target to 1,600 (1,660) pence - 'underweight'
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HSBC raises Hammerson to 'hold' - price target 27 pence
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UBS raises Asos price target to 440 (360) pence - 'neutral'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Berkeley Group Holdings noted a "stable" start to the year, and said it remains on track to achieve pre-tax earnings guidance for the full year of GBP525 million. Berkeley's financial year ends on April 30. Sales contracts have helped to secure 90% of these earnings already, the firm added. Pre-tax profits for the year are expected to be weighted towards the first half, similarly to last year, and operating margin will therefore "be slightly ahead of [Berkeley's] long-term range", at between 17.5% to 19.5%. Net cash at October 31 will be around GBP450 million, compared to GBP32 million at April 30, 2024, following shareholder returns of GBP229 million in the first half.
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Next 15 Group said that a contract with Mach49's largest customer has not been renewed after its initial three-year term and will now end this year. This contract had been expected to contribute just over GBP80 million of revenue in financial 2026, which means forecasts for that year will need to be adjusted. Additionally, the group has continued to see "an ongoing weakness in spend" from its technology customers, as well as a reduction in revenues from its public sector clients. As a result of these factors and the contract ending which will impact the last month of the fiscal year, Next 15 now believes financial 2025 revenue will be lower than planned, and profit to be materially below management expectations.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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PureTech Health noted that Vor Bio, its clinical stage cell and genome engineering company, has received new clinical data from its ongoing Phase 1/2 VBP101 study. The study looks at patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia receiving trem-cel followed by Mylotarg. Recent data demonstrated reliable engraftment, shielding from Mylotarg on-target toxicity, a broadened Mylotarg therapeutic window, and early evidence of patient benefit. Vor Bio's Chief Medical Officer Eyal Attar said: "We are encouraged by this data and the potential benefit that trem-cel in combination with Mylotarg may offer to patients in a disease that has extremely poor outcomes even after transplant. With this data, we plan to explore a registrational trial while we continue to pursue other synergistic opportunities for Vor Bio's platform."
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Glenveagh Properties announced a share buyback programme for a maximum consideration of up to EUR50 million. Starting later on Friday, the buyback will continue until December 31, and is intended to reduce share capital. Glenveagh has entered non-discretionary instructions with Davy, acting as principal, to conduct the buyback on its behalf.
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Seven & I Holdings, the Tokyo-based owner of 7-Eleven, said Friday it had rejected a takeover bid from Quebec, Canada-based retail firm Alimentation Couche-Tard, saying the proposal "grossly undervalues" the company. The proposed purchase of Seven & I Holdings would be the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese firm, merging 7-Eleven, Circle K and other brands across Asia, America and Europe. As the world's biggest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven operates more than 85,000 outlets globally. While the brand began in the US, it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005. A letter from the Seven & I board to Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) said it was open to "engaging in sincere discussions should you put forth a proposal that fully recognises our standalone intrinsic value".
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Europe's aviation safety agency said Thursday it will require inspection of part of the fleet of Airbus A350 wide-body jets in operation after an engine fire on a Cathay Pacific flight. Rolls-Royce Holdings, which makes the engines on Cathay's A350s, confirmed it was launching "a one-time precautionary engine inspection programme" and was "working very closely" with the EU agency. Hong Kong-based Cathay, one of the largest operators of the long-haul A350 jetliner, grounded 48 planes for checks on Monday after a Zurich-bound flight had to return to the city shortly after take-off. The EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Thursday that the A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a high pressure fuel hose failing. EASA said there was an "in-flight engine fire shortly after take-off", which was "promptly detected and extinguished".
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By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News senior reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
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