By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – At 07:22GMT, FTSE 100 futures are trading higher by 0.8% at 7,452.
In FX markets, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3460, EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8350. The US Dollar Index is flat.
Bitcoin is trading at $38,434.
Today’s calendar highlights include Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, German Unemployment Rate, UK Manufacturing PMI, UK Mortgage Approvals, Eurozone Unemployment Rate, Canadian GDP, US Manufacturing PMI, US Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing PMI.
Data
UK house prices rose 0.8% in January compared to December, according to Nationwide. On an annual basis, house prices rose 11.2%, above the expected increase of 10.8%. This was the strongest start to a year since 2005.
Stocks
Tesco (LON:TSCO) - Seven of the company's 13 Jack's discount stores are to be closed down, while deli counters at hundreds of other sites are also set to go. The six other Jack's stores will be converted to Tesco superstores.
Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) - A report has revealed that 21 women have been raped or sexually assaulted at its mines over the past five years. The report revealed that almost 30% of women and 7% of men said they had been sexually harassed at work. Racism was also prevalent with almost 40% of men and 32% of women who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander suffering discrimination in the workplace.
Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) - Completed the sale of its Advanced Glass Technologies business in accordance with the terms of the sale agreement entered into between JM and Fenzi Holdings SPV for £178 million on a cash free, debt free basis.
Schroders (LON:SDR) - Completed acquisition of River and Mercantile Group’s Solutions Business.
Oxford BioMedica (LON:OXB) - Announced that Sio Gene Therapies intends to cease the license agreement for gene therapy programme in Parkinson's disease. All rights shall be returned to Oxford Biomedica at no cost to the Company. The Company expects that the impact on revenue will be negligible over at least the coming 24 month period as no financial milestones were expected in the short and medium-term. Oxford Biomedica does not plan to invest in the development of this non-core legacy asset and plans to out-license it again in due course to a suitable partner with resource capabilities and funding to further develop this asset.
Virgin Money (LON:VM) - Q1 trading in line with the Board’s expectations. Relationship deposits grew 1.2% to £31.0 billion, whilst overall deposits reduced 2.0% to £65.5 billion. NIM improved in Q1 to 177bps. Now expect NIM to be circa 175bps for FY22, with growth in higher-yielding lending offset by mortgage competition and normalisation of the savings market over the remainder of the year. CET1 ratio increased c.30bps to 15.2%.
A.G.Barr PLC (LON:BAG) - FY revenue is expected to be up 17.5% to circa £267 million, marginally ahead of revised guidance. Operating margin before exceptional items for the financial year is expected to be around 15.6%.
3I Infrastructure (LON:3IN) - Made new investment commitments of circa £850 million in Q3. Total income and non-income cash was in line with expectations at £26 million. On-track to meet FY22 dividend target of 10.45 pence per share.
Micro Focus International (LON:MCRO) - Announced the completion of the disposal of its Archiving and Risk Management portfolio to Smarsh.
Cineworld (LON:CINE) - Initiated discussions with former dissenting shareholders of Regal Entertainment Group in relation to a potential rescheduling of the Group's payment obligations under the unsecured facility agreement relating to the settlement reached with such shareholders. Cineworld has initiated discussions with the Regal Litigation Parties with the aim of maximising its available liquidity and is hopeful that a satisfactory agreement can be reached within the period afforded by the waivers
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (LON:VEILV) - NAV increased 47.1% versus 39.0% (both USD terms) for its reference index, the Vietnam Index, in 2021.
ICG Enterprise Trust (LON:ICGT) - Q3 NAV per Share Total Return of 7.3%. Third quarter dividend of 6p per share, taking total for the nine months to 31 October 2021 to 18p.
Henry Boot (LON:BOOT) - Completed the sale of 760 plots to national housebuilder Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) and Vistry Partnerships for a total price of £25 million.
James Halstead PLC (LON:JHD) - It is to be expected that profit has been affected in the first six months results to a marginal extent by increased costs of materials, freight and energy.