Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 down 15 points at 8,232
- Century-old investment trusts merge
- Retail sales fall unexpectedly in June
FTSE 100 to close lower
London stocks are on track to close slightly lower today as the worries of a slowdown in the US market begin to be felt across the Atlantic.
An unexpected slip in retail sales in June didn't help the index either, with the Confederation of British Industry warning that further drops in sales volumes will continue in July.
In company news, FTSE 250 firms Witan Investment Trust (LON:WTAN) and Alliance Trust (LON:ATST), confirmed they would be merging to create a £5 billion portfolio, with the newly-created business expected to join the FTSE 100.
AO World PLC (LSE:AO.) reported annual profit above expectations and said it is confident in growing revenues at double-digit rates, a trading update revealed.
The online white goods and mobile phones retailer hailed its “strategic pivot” to focus on earnings and cash, with adjusted profit before tax increasing 186% to £34.3 million in the year to end-March.
Currencies and commodities today
As the FTSE 100 moves towards closing lower, here's a look at how commodities and currencies have done today:
- Bitcoin/USD: -0.1% at $61,720
- GDP/USD: -0.3% at $1.264
- GDP/EUR: -0.1% at €1.182
- EURO/USD: -0.2% at $1.06
- Brent Crude: +-0.4% at $85.38
- WTI Crude: +0.3% at $81.10
- Gold: -1% at $2,297
- Silver: -0.5% at $28.72
Boeing (NYSE:BA) union calls for 40% pay rise
Boeing's largest union is demanding the aircraft maker up its workers' pay by 40% as it looks to capitalise on the troubles regarding its 737 Max aircraft.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, representing around 32,000 workers in Seattle, is calling for a bumper pay rise as the company attempts to recover from a horde of safety and production scandals this year.
It also wants the new narrow-body plane to be built in Seattle, attempting to prevent Boeing moving elsewhere to cut costs.
Jon Holden at the IAMAW said: “We have a lot of leverage right now and we are going to use it. We are going to push them further than they ever would think they are going to go on wages and job security.”
Aston Martin shares slip on petrol supercar unveiling
Aston Martin shares have dropped more than 3% after it unveiled its £2 million Valiant model, with a petrol-powered 5.2-litre Twin-Turbo V12 engine.
Only 38 of the new vehicles will be manufactured and they have all already been allocated with deliveries to start by the end of this year.
Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s executive vice president and chief creative, said the Valiant would “honour internal combustion”.
Built by the company’s custom division, the Valiant follows the Valour special edition model created for the company’s 110th anniversary and stems from a request from F1 driver Fernando Alonso for a more extreme version.
Aston Martin said the Valiant would mark the “era of brutal V12 performance”.
Wall Street shifts lower
US stocks opened lower today as investors begin to analyse whether the AI-led bull run has run its course.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 dropped 0.3% to 39,003 and 5,454, respectively, while the Nasdaq held flat at 17,710.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the bellwether for AI stocks, kept flat at the open, having experienced volatility in premarket trading.
FedEx (NYSE:FDX) shares increased by 12.5% as the parcel delivery firm’s fiscal fourth quarter and full-year earnings impressed, showing that its DRIVE cost savings plan is improving profitability.
For fiscal 2024, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $17.80 topped estimates of $17.76 while revenue of $87.7 million matched expectations.
Other movers included Rivian, up 26% after it secured a US$5 billion investment from Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p), while white-goods manufacturer Whirlpool opened 15% higher after it was revealed Bosch was considering a takeover offer.