Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 up 43 points at 7,376
- Consumer confidence picks in August - GfK
- Jerome Powell to speak at Jackson Hole
UK's CMA outlines areas housebuilding probe will cover
The UK competition watchdog has said it will probe land banking by the country's biggest housebuilders as it identified a number of concerns regarding the sector.
The Competition & Markets Authority formally started a probe into the housebuilding sector and the private rental market in February.
It said it was looking into the housebuilding industry amid worries that developers were not delivering homes at an adequate pace or scale.
Today, the CMA outlined five main areas it is investigating in relation to UK housebuilding.
It said this will include estate management charges, where homeowners pay private companies to maintain things such as parks and roads.
The regulator will also look at issues regarding land banks, amid concerns over whether some large portfolios held by bigger firms are slowing competition or housing availability in some areas.
It is also looking into wider concerns regarding planning rules, competition between builders and barriers for new businesses wanting to build homes.
Here’s a recap of the top risers and fallers on the junior market today
Shearwater Group PLC (LON:SWGS) gave its shareholders something to cheer about as the cyber and digital security group said trading in recent months had been much better than expected.
Shares rose 7.5p or 19% to 46.5p.
Panthera Resources PLC, the gold mining company, was marked 18% higher after its subsidiary Indo Gold received US$13.6 million in funding to pursue claims against the Indian government.
Proteome Sciences PLC (LON:PRM) fell 22% following publication of its interim results.
Total revenues fell from £3.24 million in the first half of 2022 to £3.21 million this year.
Mkango Resources fell 7.3% after announcing that it is still negotiating with the Government of Malawi to provide, among other things, a stable fiscal regime in which the company can operate its projects in the country and be attractive to financial partners.
1:00pm: Heineken takes loss as exits Russian
Heineken NV has sold its Russian business to native manufacturing company Arnest Group for €1, incurring a total loss of €300 million (£256 million), becoming the latest company to exit Russia.
The sale means Russia’s largest manufacturer of cosmetics, household goods and packaging will take over seven Heineken breweries and any other remaining assets.
Taking responsibility for Heineken's 1,800 Russian workers, Arnest Group said it would provide employment guarantees for the next three years.
The exit reflects ongoing sanctions against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Octopus Energy could buy Shell (LON:RDSa) Energy Retail - Sky
Octopus Energy is in detailed talks to buy Shell PLC (LON:SHEL)'s s household energy customer base - a deal that would edge the company closer to challenging British Gas as the UK's biggest domestic gas and electricity supplier, according to Sky.
Sky said Octopus Energy, run by Greg Jackson, has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Shell Energy Retail although other parties remain in the frame to buy the business.
If completed, a takeover by Octopus Energy would take the number of homes it supplies in the UK to about 6.5 million - still short of Centrica-owned British Gas but larger than virtually every other competitor in the UK market, the report said.
12:02pm: US futures pointing higher ahead of Powell's speech
US stocks are expected to rally ahead of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.3% higher, while those for the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1%.
Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) noted, “there is a sense of bated breath ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech later today.”
Powell’s hawkish comments to the gathering of central bankers last year prompted heavy falls in equities as he warned of “some pain” ahead in the battle against inflation.
“It would take a brave person to load up on shares just before Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell makes his speech later today at the Jackson Hole summit," said AJ Bell’s Russ Mould.
“Any comments to suggest the Fed is going to keep raising rates for some time could trigger another risk-off mood for investors,” he said.
“August has been generally miserable for markets and a hawkish Powell could easily knock share prices once again before the month is up.”
Ahead of Powell’s speech, the Boston Fed president Susan Collins said more rate increases may be needed to bring inflation down to the central bank’s 2% target.
"I am not yet seeing the slowing that I think is going to be part of what we need for that sustainable trajectory to get back to 2% [inflation] in a reasonable amount of time," Collins told the Financial Times, later adding that "that resilience really does suggest we may have more to do".
Aside from Jackson Hole, the University of Michigan will release its final reading of consumer sentiment for July, with economists expecting the level to hold steady at the preliminary reading of 71.2, relatively unchanged from June.
Stocks on the move include Marvell Technology which has fallen back 7% in pre-market trading after reporting a loss in the financial second quarter compared to a profit the year before.
Revenue came in above the mid-point the firm guided to in May and it forecast sequential revenue growth would accelerate in the third quarter driven primarily by AI and cloud infrastructure.