Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live: HSBC cuts mortgage interest rates ahead of big week for BoE; LSEG defiant as six held for ‘plot to disrupt trading’
HSBC cuts mortgage interest rates ahead of big week for Bank of England
14:43 , Simon Hunt
HSBC has become the latest lender to cut mortgage prices, ahead of a big week of economic data that could play a big role in determining when the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates.
Whether the reductions continue likely depends on December’s inflation reading, published this week. A number of below-expectations readings led to lenders cutting rates in the expectation that the Bank of England will be able to bring its base rate down soon. Inflation is expected to tick down slightly to 3.8%, a dramatic fall from its peak of 11.1%, but still above Threadneedle Street's 2% target.
Jobs data, published tomorrow, will also play a key role in the Bank of England’s rate decisions, and therefore mortgage prices. Wages had been growing at close to a record pace, which Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee members warned was too fast to be compatible with its 2% inflation target. But recent data suggests that the labour market is rapidly loosening. The unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 4.3%.
Lunchtime update: FTSE edges lower, Ocado and Just Eat sink
12:35 , Simon Hunt
The FTSE 100 edged lower midway through the day's trading session in London.
An analyst note from analysts at Exane appears to have moved markets. The report warns investors to stay clear of Europe's fast food delivery firms, downgrading Just Eat to underperform and adding that Ocado was named the "least liked" within the sector because of its cash burn.
Ocado shares are down 4.2% while Just Eat shares sunk 7.5%.
Here's a look at your key market data:
Police presence outside LSEG after plot to shut down exchange
09:53 , Simon Hunt
Four City of London police offers were stationed outside the entrance to the London Stock Exchange this morning, after police yesterday foiled a plot to shut it down.
London police arrested six protestors with the Palestine Action group, thwarting their plans to lock themselves to the doors. The LSE scheme was set to be part of a series of protests aimed at U.K. companies helping arm Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza.
City of London police would not confirm for how long the presence of officers was set to continue.
Lloyds and Ocado fall in FTSE 100, Crest Nicholson warning hits shares
08:39 , Graeme Evans
Crest Nicholson shares have fallen 4% or 8p to 208.6p after the builder cut its earnings guidance to £41 million from £45 million-£50 million previously.
It said the decline related to increased costs at one particular site and that it was upbeat about current trading after a recent fall in mortgage rates.
Crest shares were the leading faller in the FTSE 250, which rose 34.24 points to 19,231.86. Other mid-cap movers included Currys, up 1.3p to 48.4p ahead of the electrical retailer’s trading update later this week.
The FTSE 100 index fell 5.23 points to 7619.70, with Lloyds Banking Group among the stocks under pressure after a decline of 0.6p to 44.4p.
Ahead of their trading updates, grocery warehouse technology business Ocado lost 13.8p to 638.4p and Flutter Entertainment lifted 195p to 12,985p.
PageGroup is latest recruiter to warn of jobs turmoil
08:38 , Daniel O'Boyle
FTSE 250 recruiter PageGroup today became the third recruiter to warn of a hiring slowdown in the space of a week.
It says full-year profits will be slightly below its guided range of between £120 million and £125 million.
PageGroup saw growing signs of weakness in the fourth quarter, with UK revenue down by 20%.
CEO Nicholas Kirk said: “"We produced a resilient performance in challenging market conditions. Despite the year-on-year decline in gross profit, we are still seeing good activity levels, albeit we did see a deterioration in job flow through Q4. However, these activity levels are not all converting into gross profit due to ongoing lower levels of candidate and client confidence.”
Last week, Robert Walters said fee income tumbled by 19% in the UK, with London hit hardest. Hays group saw its fees in the UK fall by 17%.
Shares are down 3.2% to 441.8p.
Crest Nicholson issues third profit warning for 2023 financial year
07:48 , Michael Hunter
Housebuilder Crest Nicholson has issued another profit warning this morning, its third for the 2023 financial year.
The FTSE 250 developer cut its outlook for earnings to £41 million, down from a previous range of £45 million to £50 million.
It said the decline related to increased costs at its site at Brightwells Yard in Farnham, of £11 million and "an exceptional charge" of £13 million over a fire at a block of flats in 2021.
It was more upbeat on current trading, saying "the recent reduction in mortgage rates has provided a more constructive backdrop for house buyers".
Crest Nicholson's results are due on 23 January
Podcast firm Audioboom hails new ad-heavy strategy
07:18 , Daniel O'Boyle
Podcast firm Audioboom says a "sharp increase" in the number of ads it put in each episode led to a return to positive cash flow in fourth quarter.
The business, behind podcasts such as The Broski Report and F1: Beyond the Grid, returned to revenue growth and brought in $3.7 million in cash during the quarter, after revenue had declined amid a wider advertising downturn and the loss of popular true crime podcast Morbid.
CEO Stuart Last said: “The focus on expanding and diversifying our customer base through the launch of our brand sales unit has resulted in new commercial partnerships with leading advertising agencies.
“Our drive to optimise advertising inventory on the platform has led to a sharp increase in the number of ad slots we create per episode, with a subsequent one billion ad impressions being made available for sale to our customers in October. These operational improvements have positioned us to capture maximum value from advertisers in 2024.”
The business previously announced that it had also been boosted by negotiations of contracts with the creators of many of its shows.
FTSE 100 seen higher as Nikkei 225 maintains momentum, oil at $78 a barrel
07:18 , Graeme Evans
The FTSE 100 index is to open slightly higher, with CMC Markets forecasting a rise of 11 points to 7636 following a mixed session for Asia markets.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose another 0.9% to a fresh 34-year high of 35,901 but benchmarks in Hong Kong and Shanghai stayed close to their opening marks. Taiwan’s stock market rose slightly after the country’s presidential election.
US markets, which are closed today for Martin Luther King Day, posted a robust session on Friday after an unexpected decline in producer prices boosted the interest rate outlook.
This week’s calendar includes UK inflation figures on Wednesday and fourth quarter figures from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on Tuesday. Currys, Dunelm and Ocado are among those due to report in the UK this week.
On commodity markets, Brent Crude today stood at $78.39 a barrel and gold at $2055 an ounce.
Recap: Markets on Friday
06:52 , Simon Hunt
The attack on Houthi forces by the US and UK militaries and a better-than-expected economic performance for the country’s economy were credited with lifting the FTSE 100 on Friday.
The index, which has so far had a poor start to the year, rose 48.34 points, or 0.64%, to end the day at 7,624.93.
It was a rise dominated by mining companies, top among them Endeavour Mining, which owns several gold mines across Africa.
Its performance was boosted by the uncertainty caused by the hostilities in the Middle East where US and UK planes struck dozens of targets in Yemen. That caused investors to put their money in assets which are considered safe, such as gold.
The Houthis had been striking ships going through the Red Sea on the way to the Suez Canal.
The UK figures on Friday morning showed that gross domestic product rose 0.3% in November, higher than the 0.2% expected by economists.In company news it was a bad day for Burberry with shares down 5.66% on the news that a slowdown in demand got worse in December.
The business slashed its profit forecast for the year as it said that revenue dropped 7% in the last three months of the year.
Meanwhile Vistry, a housebuilder, said it had built 16,124 new homes last year, down 5.4% from 2022.
It said pre-tax profit would be somewhere close to £418 million, more than previously thought. Shares closed up 0.36%.
