20th Jul 2018 07:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open marginally lower on Friday amid weak investor sentiment after US President Donald Trump criticised the US Federal Reserve, while Acacia Mining reported a drop in earnings and HomeServe said it was trading in line. IG said futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open down 6.57 points 7,677.40 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.1% at 7,683.97 on Thursday.Home emergency repairs business HomeServe, ahead of its annual general meeting, said trading during a traditionally quieter period was in line with expectations. HomeServe said it has strong prospects for growth in financial 2019 with attractive opportunities in all its geographies, particularly continued in North America where it sees potential for acquisitions. Insurer Beazley reported a drop in first half profit but growth in premiums. For the half year ending June 30, pretax profit fell 64% to USD57.5 million from USD158.7 million last year. Gross written premiums increased by 15% to USD1.32 billion against USD1.15 billion last year. The company said earnings were damped by reserve strengthening in its property division and a lower investment return than the same period in 2017Beazley raised its interim dividend to 3.9p from 3.7p last year. "We remain on target to achieve double-digit premium growth this year, led by our specialty lines and catastrophe related business. Following the catastrophes of 2017, we will experience below average reserve releases from prior years during 2018. Provided that the claims environment is reasonably in line with our expectations, a combined ratio in the low to mid nineties should be achievable for the full year," said Beazley Chief Executive Andrew Horton.Consumer goods firm Unilever said it has completed the first tranche of its EUR6 billion share buyback programme. In addition, the second tranche of the buyback, worth EUR3 billion, has gotten underway. Acacia Mining reported a slump in first half earnings. For the half year ended June 30, revenue came in at USD333.4 million down 15% from USD391,6 million last year. Pretax profit fell to USD56.7 million from USD99.5 million last year. First half gold production was down 41% to 254,759 ounces against 428,203 ounces last year. The company also said it is working towards a "comprehensive resolution" of its ongoing disputes with the government of Tanzania."In achieving first half production we are on track to achieve the top end of our guidance range of 435,000 to 475,000 ounces for 2018 and continue to demonstrate the resilience that we have built within our business. All gold produced in 2018 is expected to be in dore form and will not, therefore, be impacted by the current [Tanzanian government] export ban on concentrate," the company said. Sterling was quoted at USD1.3017 early Friday, higher compared to USD1.2986 at the London equities close on Thursday. The pound is trading at around 10-month lows versus the greenback.In political news, Theresa May is to tell the EU to "evolve" its stance on Brexit, warning that previous positions are "unworkable".The UK prime minister will use a speech in Belfast on Friday to reiterate her refusal to contemplate any backstop deal that treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK.Speaking at the city's Waterfront Hall, she is due to say that any such deal would go against the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to Northern Ireland 20 years ago after decades of conflict.May will say that following the publication of the government's white paper agreed at Chequers, it is "now for the EU to respond".The economic events calendar on Friday has eurozone current account figures at 0900 BST, and UK public sector borrowing numbers at 0930 BST.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.5%, the S&P 500 down 0.4% and Nasdaq Composite closing 0.4% lower.Breaking with longstanding precedent, President Donald Trump offered criticism of the Federal Reserve's current policy of gradually raising interest rates in an interview with CNBC.Trump said in an excerpt of an interview with CNBC's Joe Kernen that aired Thursday that he is "not thrilled" with rate hikes by the Fed."I'm not thrilled," Trump said in the interview set to air in full on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. "Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I don't really - I am not happy about it."At the same time, Trump noted he is letting the Fed do "what they feel is best," and a subsequent statement from the White House said the president respects the independence of the central bank.Late Thursday, software giant Microsoft reported an increase in profit for the fourth-quarter that also trumped Wall Street's estimates, as cloud business continues to soar.Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft reported fourth-quarter profit of USD8.87 billion or USD1.14 per share, up from last year's USD8.07 billion or USD1.03 per share. Revenue for the quarter grew 17% to USD30.09 billion from USD25.61 billion last year.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 2.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.7%.Related Shares:
UnileverBeazleyACA.LHSV.L