Thursday 8 February 2018 7:09am

Shares, stocks and corporate news: What you need to know before the open

 
Jasper Jolly

Today's top story: Woodford suffers a £1bn blow as flagship fund hit by 10-figure drop in first few weeks of 2018

Today's leader: As passive funds gain in popularity, we need active and opinionated investors more than ever

After a bout of dip-buying yesterday, European investors are set to be on the back foot once more today. Earlier in the week the FTSE 100 fell to its worst loss since the Brexit vote. One person who may be hoping for markets to rise again is star fund manager Neil Woodford, whose Equity Income fund has lost over £1bn in the first five weeks of the year; another might be Barclays chief exec Jes Staley, who has seen short sellers pile on bets against his bank.

The return of volatility to equity markets has injected a bit of doubt into the minds of traders ahead of the Bank of England's latest interest rate decision, to be announced today at midday. While almost no economist thinks there is a chance of a hike today – after the last hike only in November – many nevertheless expect a more hawkish message to prepare markets for a May hike. Governor Mark Carney speaks at 12:30pm.

Momentum has picked up again in Japan, where investors drove the Nikkei 225 index to a 1.13 per cent gain after sustaining a 1,000 point fall earlier this week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng composite index gained 0.39 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite index slumped by a further two per cent at the time of writing. In Australia, the ASX 200 gained another 0.2 per cent.

Europe's major markets are expected to retreat across the board this morning. The FTSE 100 is tipped by spreadbetters IG to fall by 0.57 per cent to 7,233 points, while the Dax in Germany is forecast to lose 0.43 per cent. The Cac 40 in France is expected to sustain a similar 0.45 per cent loss, mirrored by benchmark indices in Italy and Spain.

Corporate news

  • French bank Societe Generale profits fell by 82 per cent year-on-year because of US and French tax changes, although underlying income also fell by 24 per cent in the quarter.
  • Telecoms firm TalkTalk grew revenues by one per cent in the third quarter, adding 37,000 customers. The firm announced a £200m share placement and said it is in talks with M&G Prudential's investment arm to "provide full fibre roll out across the UK", in a potential £500m investment.
  • Sofa seller DFS saw sales fall by 3.5 per cent in its first half (excluding recently purchased Sofology) amid "challenging market conditions".
  • Football pitch operator Goals has appointed Andrew Edward Anson as chief executive with effect from 23 April.
  • Revolution Bars has appointed Rob Pitcher as chief executive, he will join at an as yet unannounced date.
  • Samsung Electronics chair Lee Kun-hee is suspected of evading tax of 8.2bn won (£5.4m), South Korean police said, according to Reuters.
  • Electric car maker Tesla said last night it was sticking with chief executive Elon Musk’s revised production targets for its Model 3 sedan, according to Reuters.

Data

  • 07:00: Germany balance of trade
  • 09:50: US Federal Reserve Robert Kaplan speech
  • 12:00: Bank of England interest rate decision, updated forecasts and press conference
  • 13:00: US Federal Reserve Patrick Harker speech
  • 14:00: US Federal Reserve Neel Kashkari speech
Thursday 8 February 2018 7:09am

Shares, stocks and corporate news: What you need to know before the open

 
Jasper Jolly
Thursday 8 February 2018 7:09am

Shares, stocks and corporate news: What you need to know before the open

 
Jasper Jolly
 
Jasper Jolly

Today's top story: Woodford suffers a £1bn blow as flagship fund hit by 10-figure drop in first few weeks of 2018

Today's leader: As passive funds gain in popularity, we need active and opinionated investors more than ever

After a bout of dip-buying yesterday, European investors are set to be on the back foot once more today. Earlier in the week the FTSE 100 fell to its worst loss since the Brexit vote. One person who may be hoping for markets to rise again is star fund manager Neil Woodford, whose Equity Income fund has lost over £1bn in the first five weeks of the year; another might be Barclays chief exec Jes Staley, who has seen short sellers pile on bets against his bank.

The return of volatility to equity markets has injected a bit of doubt into the minds of traders ahead of the Bank of England's latest interest rate decision, to be announced today at midday. While almost no economist thinks there is a chance of a hike today – after the last hike only in November – many nevertheless expect a more hawkish message to prepare markets for a May hike. Governor Mark Carney speaks at 12:30pm.

Momentum has picked up again in Japan, where investors drove the Nikkei 225 index to a 1.13 per cent gain after sustaining a 1,000 point fall earlier this week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng composite index gained 0.39 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite index slumped by a further two per cent at the time of writing. In Australia, the ASX 200 gained another 0.2 per cent.

Europe's major markets are expected to retreat across the board this morning. The FTSE 100 is tipped by spreadbetters IG to fall by 0.57 per cent to 7,233 points, while the Dax in Germany is forecast to lose 0.43 per cent. The Cac 40 in France is expected to sustain a similar 0.45 per cent loss, mirrored by benchmark indices in Italy and Spain.

Corporate news

  • French bank Societe Generale profits fell by 82 per cent year-on-year because of US and French tax changes, although underlying income also fell by 24 per cent in the quarter.
  • Telecoms firm TalkTalk grew revenues by one per cent in the third quarter, adding 37,000 customers. The firm announced a £200m share placement and said it is in talks with M&G Prudential's investment arm to "provide full fibre roll out across the UK", in a potential £500m investment.
  • Sofa seller DFS saw sales fall by 3.5 per cent in its first half (excluding recently purchased Sofology) amid "challenging market conditions".
  • Football pitch operator Goals has appointed Andrew Edward Anson as chief executive with effect from 23 April.
  • Revolution Bars has appointed Rob Pitcher as chief executive, he will join at an as yet unannounced date.
  • Samsung Electronics chair Lee Kun-hee is suspected of evading tax of 8.2bn won (£5.4m), South Korean police said, according to Reuters.
  • Electric car maker Tesla said last night it was sticking with chief executive Elon Musk’s revised production targets for its Model 3 sedan, according to Reuters.

Data

  • 07:00: Germany balance of trade
  • 09:50: US Federal Reserve Robert Kaplan speech
  • 12:00: Bank of England interest rate decision, updated forecasts and press conference
  • 13:00: US Federal Reserve Patrick Harker speech
  • 14:00: US Federal Reserve Neel Kashkari speech

Today's top story: Woodford suffers a £1bn blow as flagship fund hit by 10-figure drop in first few weeks of 2018

Today's leader: As passive funds gain in popularity, we need active and opinionated investors more than ever

After a bout of dip-buying yesterday, European investors are set to be on the back foot once more today. Earlier in the week the FTSE 100 fell to its worst loss since the Brexit vote. One person who may be hoping for markets to rise again is star fund manager Neil Woodford, whose Equity Income fund has lost over £1bn in the first five weeks of the year; another might be Barclays chief exec Jes Staley, who has seen short sellers pile on bets against his bank.

The return of volatility to equity markets has injected a bit of doubt into the minds of traders ahead of the Bank of England's latest interest rate decision, to be announced today at midday. While almost no economist thinks there is a chance of a hike today – after the last hike only in November – many nevertheless expect a more hawkish message to prepare markets for a May hike. Governor Mark Carney speaks at 12:30pm.

Momentum has picked up again in Japan, where investors drove the Nikkei 225 index to a 1.13 per cent gain after sustaining a 1,000 point fall earlier this week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng composite index gained 0.39 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite index slumped by a further two per cent at the time of writing. In Australia, the ASX 200 gained another 0.2 per cent.

Europe's major markets are expected to retreat across the board this morning. The FTSE 100 is tipped by spreadbetters IG to fall by 0.57 per cent to 7,233 points, while the Dax in Germany is forecast to lose 0.43 per cent. The Cac 40 in France is expected to sustain a similar 0.45 per cent loss, mirrored by benchmark indices in Italy and Spain.

Corporate news

Data

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