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LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened lower Thursday following disappointing PMI figures from China.
Financial and education publisher Pearson is down 5.9% at the open after saying its 2013 performance was weaker than expected, particularly in North America.
Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 4.18 at 6,822.15
FTSE 250: down 64.77 at 16,082.40
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 2.93 at 879.13
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DJIA: closed down 41.10 at 16,373.34
S&P 500: closed up 1.06 at 1,844.86
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6587
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3595
GOLD: flat at USD1,236.60 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD107.90 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
08:28 Germany Markit Manufacturing PMI Preliminary
08:28 Germany Markit Services PMI Preliminary
08:58 EU Markit Manufacturing PMI Preliminary
08:58 EU Markit PMI Composite Preliminary
08:58 EU Markit Services PMI Preliminary
09:00 EU Current Account
n/a Germany German Constitutional Court Ruling
n/a UK 10-year Bond Auction
11:00 UK CBI Distributive Trades Survey
13:30 US Chicago Fed National Activity Index
13:30 US Jobless Claims
13:30 Canada Retail Sales
13:58 US Markit Manufacturing PMI Preliminary
14:00 US Housing Price Index
15:00 US American Petroleum Institute Monthly Report
15:00 US CB Leading Indicator
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage
16:00 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
16:00 US Kansas Fed manufacturing activity
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A key indicator of China's factory sector performance declined sharply in January to a level indicating contraction in business activity, as the volume of new work inflow declined, flash results of a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC revealed. The headline purchasing managers' index fell to a six-month low of 49.6 in January from 50.5 in December. An index reading above 50 indicates expansion of the sector while a reading below 50 suggests contraction. "The marginal contraction of January's headline HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI was mainly dragged by cooling domestic demand conditions," HSBC Chief Economist Hongbin Qu said. "This implies softening growth momentum for manufacturing sectors, which has already weighed on employment growth," the economist added.
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Any recovery in business investment will require not only a pickup in final demand, but a sustained decline in uncertainty, Bank of England policy maker Ian McCafferty said Wednesday. "There are encouraging signs that this is now happening," he said in a speech to business leaders in Nottingham, England. The UK is in the "very early stages" of an investment recovery, he noted.
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Car production in the UK climbed to a six-year high in 2013 on the back of robust domestic demand and surging exports to countries outside Europe, a report from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed. Production rose 3.1% in 2013 to over 1.5 million units, the highest volume since 2007. Industry analysts predict output to reach record levels of around two million units by 2017, the report noted.
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The EU economy will not return to stable growth unless the bloc tackles social issues such as high unemployment, business and financial leaders warned Wednesday at the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The European recovery is no reason to be excited," said Axel Weber, the chairman of UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank.
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Asian countries must reign in their armament efforts to reduce tensions in the region, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday. "We must restrain military expansion in Asia, which could otherwise go unchecked," Abe said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also called on countries in Asia to make their defence budgets transparent, to create a mechanism to avoid military crises, and to set up rules to prevent maritime disputes.
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The Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary easing has supported an increase in consumer prices in the country, but it may take more than two years for Japan to attain the bank's 2% price stability target, International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara said in Tokyo.
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Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko blamed the government for escalating violence in an article published Thursday, as another protest leader called for the president to stand down, and the death toll reached at least three. Attempts by President Viktor Yanukovych to hold the opposition responsible for the "chaos" would fail, Klitschko wrote in the newspaper Bild, amid the clashes and burning barricades in Kiev. On Independence Square protest leaders late Wednesday demanded that Yanukovych step down within 24 hours, as around 50,000 people took to the streets of the capital.
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The opening day of a historic peace conference to end the war in Syria ended on a sour note late Wednesday, with the Syrian government, opposition and even the gathering's UN hosts expressing disappointment over remaining divisions between the two parties.
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Israel arrested three suspected Palestinian militants who allegedly planned an attack against the US embassy in Tel Aviv, as well as against a Jerusalem conference building and an intercity bus, the Shin Bet internal security service said Wednesday.
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Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive of Formula One Group, has won a minor skirmish in his battle against corruption charges. The Supreme Court of the State of New York rejected the pursuit of damages by a company that complained Ecclestone had secured control of Formula One through an alleged 44-million-dollar kickback to a Bavarian bank, according to documents made public on Wednesday. Earlier this month, German judges ruled that Ecclestone will stand trial in April on criminal corruption charges relating to the same alleged kickback.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN CUTS GULF KEYSTONE TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 220 (283) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS GENEL ENERGY TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 1280 (1480) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS ASOS TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 7300 (7400) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Pearson Expects To Report GBP865M Operating Profit Before Restructuring Charges For 2013; Expects To Report 2013 EPS About 83p Before Charges, In Line With Guidance And 2012; Says GBP130M In Net Restructuring Costs To Reduce Adjusted EPS To 70p; Says 2013 Trading And Financial Performance Weaker Than Expected, Particularly In North America; Says GBP130M Net Charge Comprised Of GBP170M Restructuring Cost, Offset By GBP40M Savings; Says 2014 Trading Conditions Still Challenging
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UK-based low-cost airline easyJet PLC (said it carried more number of passengers in its first quarter and load factor increased 0.1 percentage point from last year. In an interim management statement, the company said passengers carried in the period increased 4.2% to 14.3 million, and load factor improved 0.1 percentage point to 88.7%. Seats flown grew 4.1% to 16.1 million.
Total revenue grew 7.7% to 897 million pounds. The company noted that revenue per seat grew as expected by 3.4% on a reported basis to 55.71 pounds per seat or by 1.4% at constant currency despite strong prior year comparators from post-Olympic trading in the UK and a challenging competitive environment.
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Diversified utilities company SSE PLC, in its interim management statement, said that it expects that it will deliver an increase in financial year ended 31 March 2014 adjusted profit before tax, which is in line with the consensus of analysts' forecasts. SSE believed that the consensus is around UGBP1.535 billion pounds, calculated as the average of 18 analysts' forecasts at 21 January 2014. This is before charges for coupon payments associated with hybrid capital, which are presented with dividends and reflected within adjusted earnings per share. It also expects that it will report an increase of between 2% and 4% in adjusted earnings per share for the year. The company projects an increase in the full-year dividend that is expected to be around 3% - the company's target is to deliver annual real dividend increases while maintaining dividend cover over the medium term within a range around 1.5 times.
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Aviva Says Pat Regan To Step Down as Chief Financial Officer; Says Search For New CFO To Replace Regan Is Underway
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Shire Names Susan Kilsby As Non-Executive Chairman, Replacing Retiring Emmens
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Merck Offer For AZ Electronic Extended To 1pm Feb 5 2014; AZ Electronic Says Korean Patent Court Has Ruled Against Validity Of Patent AZ Is Enforcing Against UP Chemical Co.; Says It Will Appeal The Validity Ruling
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AG Barr Says It Has Maintained Strong Performance In Final Quarter; Expects Q4 Total Sales To Be Up Around 5.5%; Expects FY Rev Of Around GBP252M, Up 6.%; Remains On Course To Meet FY Expectations
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Moneysupermarket.com Names Bruce Carnegie-Brown As Chairman, Replacing Corbett
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IP Group Makes Offer For Entire Issued Share Capital Of Fusion IP; Would Take On Remaining Fusion IP Shares For Approx GBP87.8M; IP Group To Raise GBP75.0M Via Issue Of 45.5M New Shares At 165p; Issuance Split Between GBP50.0M Firm Placing And GBP25.0M Open Offer; Issuance Could Be Increased To GBP100M
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Kentz Corporation Says Pipeline Of Prospects Up 18% to USD15.6BN; Says Order Intake Up 29% to USD2.2BN
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Petra Diamonds H1 Production Up 31% To 1,635,716 Carats; H1 Rev Up 19% To USD185.5M Vs USD156.3M; Says It Remains On Track To Meet Full Year Guidance
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PayPoint CEO Says Q3 Trading In Line With Market Expectations
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Kenmare Resources Says 2013 Ore Mined Up 22% To 23,951,200T Vs 19,588,800T; HMC Production Up 47% To 1,137,200T Vs 772,300T
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Henry Boot Says Pretax Profit Will Be 10% Ahead Of Expectations
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Chemring FY Dividend 24.5% Down To 7.2p Vs 9.5p; Chairman: Board Retains Expectations For The Current Financial Year; Chairman: We Are Now A More Resilient Business, With A Clear Strategic Direction
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Brady Expects To Report 2013 Revenue Of GBP29.3M, Adjusted EBITDA Of GBP3.6M; Says Secured 5 New Contracts At End Of 2013 Worth GBP3M Total That Willl Benefit 2014;Says 2013 Results Reflect Delayed Contracts And Unfavourable Forex
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Cyprotex Says Operating Costs For Year To Be In Line With Market Expectations
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Petropavlovsk: Total Cash Cost Of Production For The Year Is In Line With Guidance
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Leyshon Energy Commences Trading On AIM Thursday
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Thor Mining Says Tests Show 50% Increase In Gold Grades As Spring Hill Project
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International Ferro Metals Says Q4 Ferrochrome Production Up 1.3% To 58,621 Tonnes, Its Second Highest Quarterly Production
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Office Of Fair Trade: United Carpets Changes Pricing Practices After OFT Investigation; OFT: United Carpets Commits To Ensuring Advertised RRP Is Genuine; United Carpets Group Says No Longer Part Of OFT's Investigation Of UK Furnishings Market Following Two Commitments
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Porta Communications Says Q4 Trading Was Very Strong, In Line With Expectations
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StatPro Group Says FY Trading Was In Line With Expectations
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Verdes Receives Letter Asking For Return Of Money From Newick Developments; Had Received First Tranche Of GBP125,000 Due Under Convertible Loan Agreement; Says Seeking To Clarify Situation
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COMPANIES - OTHER
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Just-Eat.co.uk Ltd is preparing for an initial public offering in London in April or May that will value the online delivery service at GBP700 million to GBP900 million, the Financial Times reported late Wednesday. Such a valuation would represent 70 to 90 times the firm's projected 2013 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, according to the FT. Just East was founded in Denmark in 2001 and is the largest online takeaway group in the UK, while operating in 13 countries, the newspaper said.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Keystone Investment Trust
Troy Income & Growth Trust
Smith's News
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
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