Wednesday 4 April 2018

Company news, markets and financial talking points, available from 8am Monday to Friday

Spotify defies predictions with its NY listing

Spotify completed its listing on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, with shares changing hands at $165.90. This was well above the $132 reference price that had been set the night before and valued the company at $29.5bn, considerably more than forecast. The world’s largest music streaming service listed its shares on the market without going through an initial public offering.

Beijing vows to 'reciprocate' on White House tariffs

Beijing has condemned Donald Trump after he published a list of about 1,300 Chinese products it plans to hit with a 25% tariff. Beijing said it "strongly condemns and firmly opposes" the tariffs, which the White House claims were a response to unfair Chinese practices around intellectual property rights. Beijing said: "As the Chinese saying goes, it is only polite to reciprocate."

'Misconduct' claim against Sorrell investigated

Advertising giant WPP is investigating an allegation of personal misconduct against chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell. The agency, which said it has appointed independent counsel to conduct the investigation, insisted the allegations "do not involve amounts which are material to WPP". Sorrell says he rejects any allegation of financial impropriety "unreservedly".

'Burning injustice' addressed as pay gap deadline looms

Hundreds of UK businesses still need to file their gender pay figures ahead of this evening’s midnight deadline. Some 9,000 firms have been ordered to state the average difference between male and female employees. Of those that had published data as of yesterday afternoon, 78% pay men more than women, while 13% pay women more. Theresa May said it is vital the "burning injustice" is tackled.

Barclays hands a reprieve to struggling Hornby

Loss-making Hornby has been handed a lifeline by its bank despite a fresh slump in sales. The loss-making model railway and Scalextric maker announced that although poor sales in the first three months of 2018 meant it had breached its loan agreement with Barclays, the lender was not taking any action. The struggling company says it is in the final stages of negotiating a new, larger loan facility with another banker.

Quote of the day… Why Mark Carney won't raise rates in May

"It would nonetheless be an embarrassment were the Bank to begin the process of 'normalisation' only to reverse it a few months later when the economy turns down." Jeremy Warner of the Daily Telegraph says we may never return to higher interest rates.

THE NUMBERS... AT 0705 GMT

FTSE 100: down -0.37 to 7030.46
Dow Jones: up +1.65 to 24033.36
Dax: down -0.78 to 12002.45
Cac 40: down -0.29 to 5152.12
Nikkei: up +0.26 to 21346.84
Hang Seng: down -0.65 to 29984.61
US dollar: buys €0.81450 and £0.71030
Sterling: buys $1.40790 and €1.14680
Oil: $68.16 up +0.8