London Stocks Rise in Early Trade; IAG Jumps
The FTSE 100 index rises 0.3% to 7050.63, as sentiment picks up,
albeit tentatively, with gains for travel and entertainment stocks
offsetting falls in most heavyweight mining stocks. British Airways
owner International Consolidated Airlines Group is the biggest
riser, up 4% after reports that the U.K. is set to make major
changes to the current international-travel rules. Reports say the
government will merge the current green and amber lists of
countries into one low-risk category and reduce the number of
red-list countries. Meanwhile, retailers mostly shrug off earlier
data showing an unexpected fall in U.K. retail sales. "Stock
markets have endured a see-saw week, but as the week enters its
final day there are indications in price action that a low may be
forming," IG says.
Companies News:
UK Competition Watchdog to Consider Pennon's Acquisition of
Bristol Water
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it
is looking at Pennon Group PLC's acquisition of Bristol Water.
---
S4 Capital's Media.Monks Mergers with Zemoga
S4 Capital PLC, a U.K. digital-advertising and
marketing-services company, said Friday that its new unitary brand
Media.Monks is joining forcer with Zemoga via a merger.
---
Foxtons Group Names Nigel Rich as Next Chairman
Foxtons Group PLC said Friday that it has appointed Nigel Rich
as chairman with effect from Oct. 1, succeeding Ian Barlow.
---
Aegon to Buy Back Shares Worth EUR96 Mln to Offset Paying
Dividend in Shares
Aegon NV said Friday that it will repurchase common shares worth
96 million euros ($112.9 million) to neutralize the dilutive effect
of its first-half dividend in shares.
---
CEPS Raises GBP1.6 Mln in Discounted Share Placing
CEPS PLC said Friday that it raised 1.6 million pounds ($2.2
million) in a discounted share placing.
---
Safestay Says Board Was Approached About Possible Offer
Safestay PLC said on Friday that the board has received a "very
early stage and highly conditional approach" from a third party in
relation to a possible offer for the company.
---
Volvere 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed
Volvere PLC on Friday reported a significantly narrowed pretax
loss for the first half of 2021, noting that its financial position
continues to be strong, with high liquidity.
---
Accsys Technologies Five-Month Performance Marked by Sales,
Revenue Growth
Accsys Technologies PLC said Friday that its performance in the
first five months of fiscal 2022 was strong, marked by growth in
sales and revenue.
---
GoldStone Resources Shares Drop on Continued Halt to Gold
Production at Ghanian Mine
Shares in GoldStone Resources Ltd. fell on Friday after the
company said that it hasn't been able to start gold production at
the Homase Mine in Ghana.
---
NextEnergy Solar Fund Enters Into GBP100 Mln Joint Venture with
Eelpower
NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd. said Friday that it has entered into
a 100 million-pound ($137.9 million) joint-venture partnership with
Eelpower Ltd., a battery storage specialist in the U.K.
Market Talk:
Markets Overprice Prospect of BOE Rate Rises, Says Deutsche
Bank
0818 GMT - Interest-rate markets are overpricing prospects of
the Bank of England raising interest rates next year, says Deutsche
Bank. "Rates pricing is consistent with 50 basis-point base rate by
end of 2022 and a very flat curve hereafter implying 75 basis
points as the long run terminal rate," DB's Sanjay Raja and Panos
Giannopoulos say. The February 2022 overnight index swap, currently
at 15.9 bps, is implying around a 70% chance of a 15 basis-point
increase, they note. "Whilst of course a February [rate] hike could
materialize, it is far from a foregone conclusion." The analysts
estimate a rate increase in February should be less than 50% priced
at this stage given the net balance of risks.
---
BOE Expected to Keep Policy On Hold
0756 GMT - The Bank of England is expected to keep monetary
policy on hold at next week's meeting. "It remains too early to
expect a further hawkish pivot from the Monetary Policy Committee
at this stage," says Deutsche Bank. Growth has slowed materially
and while hiring, unemployment and job vacancies have been
positive, "the scale of furloughed staff remains worryingly high
with only weeks to go on the furlough scheme," DB's Sanjay Raja and
Panos Giannopoulos say. The likely uncertainty around labour market
slack combined with the slowdown in demand and uncertain health
outlook could weigh on the final Monetary Policy Report later this
year, they say.
---
Weak UK Retail Sales Could Hamper Sterling's Rise
0736 GMT - Data showing an unexpected 0.9% fall in U.K. retail
sales in August, against the consensus forecast in a WSJ poll for a
rise of 0.8%, "may take some of the momentum out of the rise in
U.K. money market rates and also GBP," ING says. The impact may be
limited, however, as the weak figures are unlikely to prompt the
Bank of England to "deliver a 'rate protest'" against market
pricing of future interest-rate rises at next week's meeting, ING
says. This is likely to leave GBP/USD gravitating around 1.3800 and
EUR/GBP near 0.8500, it says. GBP/USD is last up 0.1% at 1.3801,
having traded at around 1.3806 before the data. EUR/GBP rises 0.1%
to 0.8535, versus around 0.8525 beforehand.
---
Near-Term Outlook for UK Retail Sales Looks Challenging
0654 GMT - August's U.K. retail sales data bring more evidence
that the recovery in consumer spending has lost considerable
momentum in the third quarter, Pantheon Macroeconomics chief U.K.
economist Samuel Tombs says. Retail sales volumes fell by 0.9%
month-on-month in August but they were still 4.6% above their
February 2020 level. So far, household spending appears to have
been no stronger in September, Tombs says. "The near-term outlook
for households' spending is overcast," the economist says.
Households' real disposable incomes will decline in the fourth
quarter as inflation soars to about 4%, labor income drops in the
wake of the wind-down of the furlough program and a GBP20-a-week
uplift to Universal Credit is withdrawn, he says.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka
Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 17, 2021 04:44 ET (08:44 GMT)
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