Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 well above the morning low of 7,505.48
- Wall Street edges lower with 25 bps US rate hike expected
- UK inflation unexpectedly rebounded to 10.4% last month
Minimum at Amazon
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has raised the minimum starting pay for its employees at its UK operations by up to 50p to between £11 and £12 an hour, a move that has angered its union that had demanded a bigger hike.
The pay rise comes less than a week after hundreds of workers at an Amazon warehouse in Coventry in central England staged the latest walkout in a dispute over pay this year.
"We're listening to Amazon workers and the message is very clear: this new pay rate is an insult," Amanda Gearing, senior organiser of the GMB union, which represents more than 500 Amazon workers, told Reuters. "So, in response we will be consulting over the next few days and announcing a new wave of action."
The union had said the Amazon Coventry workers are demanding £15 an hour to cope with a cost-of-living crisis that has sparked strikes across sectors in Britain over the last several months.
The new increase, which will depend on locations and start from April, comes after Amazon last year raised UK hourly wages by 50 pence to between £10.50 and £11.45 an hour.
Amazon, which has 70,000 workers in the UK, in January announced plans to shut three warehouses in the UK this year, in a move that will affect 1,200 jobs, but said workers will be given the chance to transfer to other units.
Fed watch begins
The FTSE 100 index held just off session highs, having rallied from earlier falls caused by above-forecast UK inflation numbers, helped by opening advances on Wall Street as investors awaited the latest Federal Reserve interest rate decision, due at 6.00pm GMT, although the main US indexes soon turned flat.
Around 40 minutes after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was off 32 points, or 0.1%, at 32,528, while the broader S&P 500 index and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite also both lost 0.1%.
“We think the Fed will take that next step, that 25 basis point increase, but probably wrap that in some pretty dovish language to indicate they’re close to the end, if not at the end,” said Neuberger Berman’s Erik Knutzen said on CNBC’s 'Closing Bell'. “In a way, it almost doesn’t matter, it’s priced in. What’s most important is the broad liquidity being provided through the Fed’s balance sheet and some of the programs they put in place, the liquidity they provided last week.”
In London, around 2.10pm. the FTSE 100 index was up 27 points, or 0.4%, at 7,563, just off the day's peak of 7,563.98, and well above the morning low of 7,505.48.
A quick look at some of the movers in London
Risers
Vistry- up 1.6% to 744p
Shares rose after the UK housebuilder forecast annual profit in 2023 would be above current market expectations.
The FTSE 250-listed firm expects to deliver adjusted profit before tax for the financial year 2023 in excess of £440mln, well above the market consensus for around £403mln.
Pathfinder Minerals (AIM:PFP)- up 14% to 0.5p
Shares jumped after the company confirmed it has signed an agreement for the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary IM Minerals Limited.
Falcon Oil & Gas- up 5.4% to 8.7p
Shares rose following news of the successful completion of a 25-stage stimulation programme at the Amungee NW-2H (A2H) well in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Bytes Technology- up 2% to 383p
Bytes leapt following a positive trading update for the financial year just ended.
The software, security and cloud services firm predicted that gross profit and adjusted operating profit for the 12 months to 28 February 2023 will both rise by around 20% compared with the previous year, driven by “very strong demand” for software and IT services from corporate and public sector clients, despite the macroeconomic headwinds.
Fallers
Anpario- down 26% to 229p
The manufacturer of natural sustainable feed additives for animal health, nutrition and biosecurity nosedived after the company reported a fall in profit and said trading at the start of 2023 has been weak.
“Trading in the first couple of months of 2023 has been weak and market conditions are expected to continue to be challenging through the first half of the year,” chair Kate Allum said.
Ten Entertainment- down 1.7% to 280p
Ten reported rising sales and profit but it wasn’t enough to stop the shares edging lower.
The operator of 49 social entertainment centres in the UK posted revenue £126.7mln in 53 weeks to 1 January 2023 compared to £67.5mln in the 52 weeks to December 26th, 2021.