- FTSE 100 sheds 46 points
- Ashtead eyes US primary listing
- Miners weigh on index
1.30pm: Canary Wharf secures £610mln loan for bond repayments
Canary Wharf will borrow £610 million from US investment giant Apollo to meet bond repayments over the coming years.
Having faced pressure due to a shift in working patterns since the pandemic, Canary Wharf Group said the loan would be used to cover bonds due in April 2025 and 2026.
The loan was secured against its 1.2 million square feet retail portfolio, the financial district landlord said, adding this was currently 97% occupied.
More than £2 billion worth of refinancing had been completed over the past year, Canary Wharf added, including on buildings occupied by the likes of Société Générale and EY... Read more
12.54pm: Euro at lowest against pound in over two years
The euro fell to its lowest versus the pound in over two years on Tuesday as traders priced in an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank this week.
Euro was trading 0.25% lower at 0.825p against sterling come Tuesday afternoon, reflecting its lowest since April 2022.
Markets are anticipating European interest rates to be cut by 25 basis points at the ECB’s meeting on Thursday, stretching to 152 basis points worth of reductions by late 2025.
The Bank of England is expected to hold interest in its upcoming meeting next week, before cutting by a collective 75 basis points in the meantime.
Figures on Tuesday from Germany, Europe’s largest economy, showed inflation in line with expectations at 2.2% through November as the country grapples with the collapse of its government and economic woes.
12.34pm: Miners weigh on renewed China jitters
Mining stocks were in reverse on Tuesday as a boost from renewed pledges by Beijing for economic stimulus looked to wear off.
Antofagasta PLC (LSE:LON:ANTO), Glencore PLC (LSE:LON:GLEN) and Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) all headed lower after having sat among the FTSE 100’s biggest risers on Monday in the wake of reports China would ramp up monetary and fiscal stimulus into the new year.
However, data on Tuesday showed Chinese exports and imports had both missed expectations for November, reinvigorating fears over the world’s second-largest economy.
Imports fell by 3.9%, according to China’s customs authority, against an anticipated rise, while exports climbed by 6.7% but missed the 8.5% increase expected.
“That doesn’t install much confidence about Beijing’s efforts to get the country back on top,” AJ Bell (LON:AJBA) analyst Dan Coatsworth said.
“The prospect of higher tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US once Donald Trump is back in the White House also cast a dark cloud on the near-term outlook, making investors nervous about the region.”
Asia-focused insurer Prudential PLC (LSE:LON:PRU) was also among the FTSE 100’s fallers as a result, with the index as a whole dropping 42 points to 8,309.
12.17pm: Nasdaq to rise as Wall Street seen clawing back on Tuesday
Wall Street looked set to regain slightly on Tuesday after Monday saw declines across the board for the Nasdaq, Dow Jones and S&P 500.
Futures had the Nasdaq and S&P 500 moving 0.1% higher ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, while the Dow Jones was seen just above the mark.
Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony noted the early-week declines had reflected “signs of instability” in the wake of a bumper November on Donald Trump’s election victory.
“For all the talk of a Santa rally, the weakness seen throughout US stocks serves to provide a warning that we might see a pullback before any year-end surge can take place,” he said.
Attention this week has been on Wednesday’s inflation report, with markets expecting consumer prices to have risen by 2.7% in November and in turn pave the way for a Federal Reserve rate cut later in the month.
11.44am: Ashtead tumbles as guidance cut clouds listing switch plan
Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:LON:AHT) failed to enthuse investors with plans to switch its primary listing to the US on Tuesday as a poor set of results clouded the news.
Shares fell 12.4% to 5,492p in the wake of the two updates, placing Ashtead firmly ahead among the FTSE 100’s biggest daily losers.
Though Ashtead pointed to the prospect of “enhanced overall liquidity” through a move to the US, the assurances were not enough to overshadow a separate guidance downgrade.
Revenue growth was set to come in between 3% to 5% this year, against 5% to 8% as previously guided, after a 2% uptick in the first half, the industrial equipment rental firm said.
“The construction market has seen weakness driven by the higher interest rate environment lasting longer,” eToro analyst Adam Vettese highlighted.
“This has in turn hurt used equipment sales and higher depreciation costs have hit Ashtead’s numbers.”
In terms of Ashtead’s primary listing switch, analysts noted the move had widely been anticipated anyway.
“It was always a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Ashtead would move its main stock listing to the US,” AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth commented, adding “profit warnings from Ashtead aren’t common”.
11.05am: Renewables to outstrip fossil fuels for first time this year
Renewables are on course to produce more electricity than fossil fuels for the first time over the course of a full year in 2024.
According to think tank Ember, wind, solar and hydropower will account for 37% of the UK’s electricity this year, outstripping the 35% from fossil fuels.
Wind power alone will make up 29%, while gas power use is set to drop by 13% as generation hits its lowest since 1996.
“The renewables future is here,” senior Ember analyst Frankie Mayo commented.
“With the phase-out of coal power completed this year, reducing gas use is the next big opportunity for the country.”
10.01am: Tesco (LON:TSCO) and Sainsbury’s among risers after both boost market share
Tesco PLC (OTC:TSCDY) (LSE:TSCO) and J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:LON:SBRY) were among the risers on Tuesday morning after Kantar figures showed both grew their share of the grocery market recently.
Britain’s largest grocer grew its share to 28.1%, up from 27.4% a year ago as sales grew by 5.2% in the 12 weeks to 1 December 2024.
Number two Sainsbury’s share increased by 0.3 percentage points to 15.9% with its sales 4.7% higher than last year... Read more
Tesco shares ticked up 1.2% in the wake of the figures, placing it behind only B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) among the day’s winners, while Sainsbury’s climbed 0.7%.
Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT) remained the day’s biggest loser in the meantime, down 10.4%, after it unveiled plans to move its primary listing to the US but also flagged a drop in interim profit.
Miners also continued to weigh on the FTSE 100, sending London’s blue-chip index down 46 points to 8,305.
9.46am: NHS to receive £23mln after pharma competition probe
The NHS will receive £23 million from Vifor Pharma following a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into potential misinformation.
Intravenous iron deficiency treatment maker Vifor offered the payment on the back of the probe into whether it had spread misinformation to doctors about rival products, the watchdog said.
Vifor had also agreed to inform healthcare professionals of potential misinformation relating to its treatment, Ferinject, or Pharmacosmos’ Monofer product... Read more
9.20am: Supermarket sales up ahead of Christmas boost
Supermarket sales picked up over the course of November before an expected surge to all-time highs in the run-up to Christmas.
According to Kantar, sales across the sector grew by 2.5% over the four weeks to December 1, as grocery inflation ticked up 2.6%.
Sales over the course of December were then set to exceed £13 billion across Britain’s supermarkets for the first time ever, Kantar added.
“Monday 23 December is likely to be the single busiest day for the supermarkets this year,” Kantar retail insight head Fraser McKevitt said.
“Although there are clear signs that shoppers are already stocking up their cupboards.”
Sales of sweet biscuits and those for cheese were said to have doubled month on month, while champagne, wine and spirits were the most bought among products on offer.
“Sales on promotion reached 30% in November, the highest since Christmas last year,” McKevitt added.
“It’s retailer price cuts, often accessed through loyalty cards, that are really driving this.
“While multibuy promotions have stayed flat, spending on price cut offers has grown by 14%, worth £355 million more than last year.”
Kantar also reported the average price of a Christmas dinner for four had jumped by 6.5%, in line with higher turkey and vegetable costs.
9.02am: Thames Water warns cash will only last to March
Thames Water has said it risks running out of cash as soon as March without a proposed £3 billion emergency injection from creditors.
Britain’s largest water supplier on Tuesday warned it may not be able to continue operating without the funds after net debt grew from £14.7 billion in March to £15.8 billion come October.
Funds could become “exhausted” without court approval for the emergency injection, it said, ahead of rulings on December 17 and January 20.
New funding, to which some creditors have already agreed, would keep the supplier to 16 million people afloat and stave off the threat of nationalisation until October... Read more
8.32am: Begbies Traynor (AIM:LON:BEG) gains as insolvencies boost results
Begbies Traynor (AIM:BEG) climbed 4.2% early on after reporting higher interim revenue and profit, in part owing to an increase in insolvency activity.
Revenue climbed 16% to £76.3 million during the six months to October, aiding a 16% increase in adjusted pre-tax profit to £11.5 million, the insolvency specialist said Tuesday.
“Increased year-on-year insolvency activity levels in higher value cases” was highlighted, alongside the likes of strong growth in asset sales on higher property auction volumes.
“Market conditions remain supportive for the group's service lines which is reflected in our current activity levels and positive momentum,” executive chairman Ric Traynor said... Read more
8.11am: FTSE 100 tumbles early on
London’s blue chips faced a losing start to the day, shedding 39 points to sit at 8,312 early on.
Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT) led early fallers, spiralling 7.9%, after unveiling plans to move its primary listing to the US and also reporting a drop in first-half profit.
Mining stocks also weighed, with the likes of Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL), Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) and Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO) reversing on gains seen on Monday.
8.03am: Ashtead plans to switch primary listing to US
Industrial equipment rental firm Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT) has proposed switching its primary listing from the UK to the US in yet another blow to London.
“The board has concluded that the US market is the natural long-term listing venue for the group and that moving to a US primary listing is in the best interests of the business and its stakeholders,” it said on Tuesday.
Potential benefits would include “enhanced overall liquidity in the group's shares given access to deeper US capital markets,” FTSE 100-listed Ashtead noted.
Ashtead, which said the move was subject to shareholder approval, would follow other former FTSE 100 constituents in seeking out better fortunes across the Atlantic, such as Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment PLC (LON:FLTRF) (LSE:FLTR) and CRH PLC (LSE:NYSE:CRH (LON:CRH), NYSE:CRH)... Read more
Ashtead separately reported a 2% increase in revenue to US$5.7 billion and 1% drop in operating profit to US$1.5 billion for the first half of the year.
7.37am: Centrica (LON:CNA) hikes buyback by £300mln
British Gas owner Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) has unveiled a £300 million extension to its share buyback programme ahead of an investor event on Tuesday.
Additional repurchases would mean Centrica had bought back £1.5 billion worth of shares, or 20% of its issued capital, since November 2022, it said.
Centrica also noted full-year earnings were set to meet analysts’ expectations for 18.5p a share, leaving mean net cash in line with forecasts for £2.56 billion.
Centrica’s offered to update ahead of a “teach-in” event on Tuesday around its energy and meter asset provider businesses... Read more
7.10am: Stocks set for drop
The FTSE 100 was set to give up some of Monday’s gains on Tuesday, with futures pointing to an 18-point drop to 8,325.
London’s blue chips had racked up a 43-point gain on Monday, aided by a rally among mining stocks after Beijing pledged further stimulus measures for next year.
Overnight, Asian markets had a mixed showing. South Korea’s Kospi rallied after recent drops in the wake of political uncertainty around last week’s martial law declaration.
Back in London, attention was on trading updates from Ashtead and Moonpig, as well as Centrica’s investor day.
5.00am: Tuesday's schedule
Centrica, Moonpig and Ashtead will be among those to update on a busy Tuesday.
Commentary around Ashtead's outlook on an expected spending spree under incoming president Donald Trump will be watched for... Read more
Moonpig will need to prove positive momentum has continued after an upbeat update last time out... Read more
Centrica's investor event is set to draw attention as analysts anticipate a guidance hike... Read more
Announcements due:
Trading updates: Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA)
Interims: Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT), Ferguson PLC (LON:FERG), Moonpig Group PLC (LON:MOONM), Solid State PLC
Finals: Ncc Group PLC
AGMs: Agriterra Ltd, Ashoka India Equity Inv Trust PLc, Fidelity Emerging Markets Ltd, Henderson International Income (LON:HINT) Trust PLC, Ruffer Investment Co Ltd, Schroder Japan Trust PLC
Economic announcements: Consumer Price Index (GER)