Yahoo Finance What to watch: Tariff troubles, BMW profit dives, and Domino's international woes
Here are the top business, market and economic stories you should be watching today in the UK, Europe and abroad:
European markets react to tariffs
European stock markets were mostly flat on Tuesday as fears eased over increased tariffs on Chinese imports to the US.
Stock markets around the world dived on Monday after US President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that the US would raise tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods from 10% to 25%. The Shanghai Composite fell by 5.5% and suffered its worst day since February 2016.
Britain's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was closed on Monday for a bank holiday and as a result was lower on Tuesday morning as investors reacted to the news. The benchmark UK index was down 0.3%.
Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) was flat, on Tuesday morning as was France's CAC 40 (^FCHI). The Euronext 100 (^N100) was down by 0.1%
Elsewhere, Asian markets recovered from month-lows. Asian markets rallied from 5-month lows overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225) closed down by 1.5%, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (^HSI) was up by 0.4%, and China's benchmark Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was up by 0.6%.
BMW profit dives
BMW (BMW.DE) profit crashed by 78% in the first quarter due to investment in its electric car business and the setting aside of cash for a potential fine.
The carmaker saw its operating profit tumble to £503m (€589m) in the first quarter, despite higher deliveries of luxury cars.
The car maker invested heavily in converting its factories to manufacture electric vehicles, with spending on property, plants, and equipment up 36%.
BMW was also forced to set aside £1.2bn (€1.4bn) to cover a possible fine from the European Commission. The European Commission is investigating alleged collusion between German car firms over emission-filtering technology.
Domino’s international woes
Domino’s Pizza (DOM.L) shares fell by 6% on Tuesday after it warned about losses in its international business.
The chain said it saw a “disappointing” performance in its international business, with “weak” system sales across all its overseas markets. International sales were up by 1.1% i for the 13 weeks to March 31.
Domino’s said it therefore no longer expects to the international business to break even over the full-year.
In the UK, comparable sales rose by 3.1% in the period. Like-for-like orders by volume fell by 2.7%, but this was offset by a 5.1% hike in prices. Online sales lifted 8.5%.
The group added it remains in an “open and ongoing dialogue” with UK franchisees amid an escalating row with disgruntled store operators.
Purplebricks CEO quits
Shares in Purplebricks (PURP.L) fell almost 8% on Tuesday after the founder and chief executive Michael Bruce announced he is stepping down from the online estate agent with immediate effect.
Vic Darvey, previously the company’s chief operating officer, will replace Bruce at the helm of the company.
Chairman Paul Pindar thanked Bruce for his “truly remarkable contribution” but said: “We are very conscious that the group’s performance has been disappointing over the last 12 months and we sincerely apologise to shareholders for that.
“With hindsight, our rate of geographic expansion was too rapid and as a result the quality of execution has suffered. We have also made sub-optimal decisions in allocating capital. We will learn from these errors and will not make them again.”
Purplebricks announced it is pulling out of Australia and scaling back investment in its US business as part of a strategic review. It reaffirmed its full-year revenue target of £130-140m.
What to expect in the US
US stock futures were suggesting a lower open later today. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were down by 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were down by 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were down by 0.2%. The VIX volatility-tracking index (^VIX) was up by 23.3%.
