Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 rises 29 points to 8212
- Auto Trader zooms to new all-time high
- Dr Martens (LON:DOCS) strides higher as numbers not as awful as expected
European markets up, US futures down
The FTSE 100 and wider European markets are moving higher as the US wakes up, even though Wall Street equity futures are indicating a lower start amid a swathe of retail sector earnings.
London's benchmark index is up 29 points or 0.35% to 8212, while its mid-cap sibling is up 183 points or 0.9% to 20,619.
Elsewhere, the DAX is back above the flatline after dipping earlier, with the biggest gains for Italy's FTSE MIB, up 0.6%.
The wider Euro Stoxx 600 is up 0.25%.
Dow Jones futures are pointing to a decline of 0.9%, with S&P 500 futures down 0.4% and those for the Nasdaq 100 falling 0.3%, according to our US market report.
Kohl's shares are down 21% premarket after the department store group reported a Q1 loss and, with revenues disappointing and much bigger losses than forecast.
Going the other way, Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) stock has jumped 14% after earnings surpassed expectations as the sneaker retailer continued its turnaround plan.
Anglo should not ditch Yorkshire fertiliser mine, say MPs
Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) should rethink its plan to cut investment in the Woodsmith fertiliser project in North Yorkshire, local politicians have said as the company holds an internal meeting to discuss details on how work is to slow down.
As part of its rejection of a takeover proposal from Australia's BHP, the FTSE 100 group said it would sell De Beers and its platinum arm and regroup around copper and iron ore, also retaining its Crop Nutrients division.
A local Tory MP said the polyhalite mine "should not be used as a sacrificial lamb to fend off a takeover".
RB Leeds?
Red Bull has bought into Leeds United Football Club, though the size of the equity investment in the second-tier club was not disclosed.
LUFC said the deal "brings in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment for a minority ownership stake that will further enable the club to compete on and off the pitch".
There was no detail regarding future ties to the Red Bull Football Group, though unlike RB Leipzig, FC Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls, the club said it will not result in any change to the club’s name or logo.
Virgin Galactic shares flying too low for NYSE
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) said last night that it has plans in place to prevent it being ejected from the New York Stock Exchange, after its price fell below the required minimum.
The NYSE sent a message yesterday warning the space tourism group that the average closing share price was below $1.00 over 30 consecutive trading days, which is required for continued listing on the exchange.
Virgin Galactic told the NYSE that it intends to resolve this by getting approval at its annual stockholders meeting next month to complete a reverse stock split.
11.25am: Russia promises 'consequences' for 'escalation'
Some words from Russia that don't seem to bode well.
The Kremlin says the US and NATO have escalated tensions around Ukraine in recent weeks and appear determined to continue fighting Russia, Reuters is reporting.
Kremlin says such escalation will have consequences for the interests of the countries stirring tension.
Financial markets seem little moved.
Flight demand rises
Passenger demand was up 11% in April, according to industry data.
The April load factor (how full planes were) was 82.4%, up one percentage point compared to April 2023, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says.
Total capacity last month, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 9.6% year-on-year.
Airline stocks are in green (though most of them were earlier anyway), though Lufthansa has picked up.
Another view on eurozone data
Rory Fennessy at Oxford Economics says the eurozone's economic sentiment indicator "offers some encouraging signals that growth in the eurozone is becoming more broad-based, even if services are continuing to outperform manufacturing".
The rise chimes with recent PMI data "and suggests that the eurozone's recovery is gaining traction", he says.
"We expect the eurozone economy will expand again in Q2 and growth should pick up further in the second half of 2024."
Weak growth in Europe
The EC business and consumer survey points to weak economic growth and easing price pressures, says Lily Millard, assistant economist at Capital Economist.
"The EC business and consumer survey for May is consistent with weak growth in euro-zone GDP, while price pressures are still strong but are continuing to ease. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down in April, and we expect it to hover around its current level for the remainder of the year."
She said policymakers can take some comfort in the fact that selling price expectations have fallen, with selling price expectations for the manufacturing sector increasing slightly but in line with the long-run average, while services prices declined to their lowest level since August 2021.
"That said, the labour market still looks tight, with other data published today showing that the unemployment rate ticked down to a new record low of 6.4% in April. So wage growth and services inflation are likely to come down only gradually."