19th Dec 2019 07:38
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Thursday, the FTSE 100 seen extending its wining streak for a seventh consecutive session, amid "calm" after recent trade war-inspired volatility.
In early company news, Paypoint is looking for a new chief executive after Patrick Headon stepped down following a leave of absence for medical reasons, Endeavour urged takeover target Centamin to request an extension to an offer deadline, and Circassia Pharmaceuticals said BeyondAir has terminated a licensing agreement agreement for "material breach".
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 6.05 points higher at 7,546.80 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed 15.47 points, or 0.2%, higher at 7,540.75 on Wednesday, with the index currently trading around around four-month highs.
"After the significant post-trade deal equity market rally, markets remain relatively calm in both Asia this morning and the US yesterday," said Danske Bank.
In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed flat, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.5%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.1%, the S&P 500 flat and Nasdaq Composite closing up 0.1%.
US President Donald Trump was impeached for abuse of power in a historic vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, setting up a Senate trial on removing him from office after three turbulent years.
By a 230 to 197 vote in the Democratic-majority House, the 45th US president became just the third occupant of the White House in American history to be impeached.
Trump will now stand trial in the Senate, where his fellow Republicans hold a solid majority and are expected to exonerate him.
The House vote came four months after a whistleblower accused Trump of pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate his potential White House challenger in 2020, the veteran Democrat Joe Biden.
After a marathon 10-hour debate, US lawmakers also voted 229-198 to approve the second article of impeachment facing Trump – for obstructing the congressional probe into his Ukraine dealings.
"There was some light USD selling in FX markets but reaction was mostly muted," Danske Bank commented on the impeachment vote.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3108 early Thursday, up from USD1.3070 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
The euro was quoted at USD1.1129 early Thursday, firm compared to USD1.1125 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY109.59 versus JPY109.52.
Gold was quoted at USD1,476.67 early Thursday, firm from USD1,475.70 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD66.20 early Thursday, flat on USD66.12 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
In early UK company news, Royal Bank of Scotland said Chris Marks and Richard Place have stepped down as chief executive and chief financial, respectively, of subsidiary Natwest Markets.
Robert Begbie, RBS treasurer, has been appointed interim CEO and Robert Horrocks, RBS treasury finance director, has been appointed interim CFO.
RBS and Natwest will publish their 2019 results on February 14, with the state-backed lender adding that there is "no update" on the performance of the group at this time.
Paypoint said CEO Patrick Headon has stepped down from his role with immediate effect after taking a temporary leave of absence to receive medical treatment.
The search for a new CEO is now underway, the company said, and in the meantime Chair Nick Wiles has agreed to continue in the role of executive chair.
Endeavour Mining Corp said that due to a lack of "meaningful engagement" with takeover target Centamin, there is now insufficient time before the current 'put up or shut up' deadline of December 31 for necessary due diligence to take place.
Canada's Endeavour at the start of December proposed a deal in which Centamin shareholders would get 0.0846 of an Endeavour share per Centamin share held, giving Centamin shareholders 47% of a combined company and valuing Centamin at GBP1.47 billion.
Endeavour on Thursday said it will only proceed if it can complete a "proper and comprehensive" due diligence exercise, including technical analysis and site visits.
"Endeavour continues to believe in the strategic merits of the combination for both sets of shareholders, and therefore urges Centamin to request that the Takeover Panel consents to an extension of the current PUSU period to January 31, 2020, to enable completion of the necessary reciprocal due diligence exercise, which cannot realistically be completed in 7 working days," said Endeavour.
Centamin, which mines from Sukari in Egypt, on Wednesday had said it was "disappointed" that Endeavour had "repeatedly refused to engage in a proper manner".
Circassia Pharmaceuticals said BeyondAir has terminated a licensing agreement agreement for "material breach".
"Circassia refutes the allegations in the strongest terms and believes there are no grounds to terminate the agreement. The company will enforce its rights under the agreement and defend its position vigorously," the respiratory disease-focused biopharmaceutical company said.
The economic events calendar on Thursday has UK retail sales figures at 0930 GMT and US current account numbers at 1330 GMT.
At midday is the Bank of England's latest interest rate decision, though no change is expected.
"The BoE are unlikely to move rates until the Brexit saga ends, and given the recent chatter about a no-deal scenario after the transition period, the central bank are likely hold steady for the foreseeable future," said David Madden at CMC Markets.
Ahead of the communication of the latest rate decision, a Times newspaper investigation revealed a back-up communications system installed by the Bank a few years ago had been hijacked and shared with a market news service.
Having access to the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's comments even seconds ahead of a rival would give traders a vital competitive advantage.
The BoE called the use of the audio feed "wholly unacceptable", and said it immediately disabled the third-party supplier's access.
According to the Times, those who subscribed to the market news service offering the Bank's audio had a five to eight-second head start over competitors.
Thursday's BoE decision comes after Japan's central bank decided on Thursday to keep in place its ultra-loose monetary policy to overcome deflation and prop up the nation's economy despite signs of a slowdown after a consumption tax hike.
The central bank decided to maintain the short-term interest rate at minus 0.1% and the long-term interest rates at around zero per cent, it said after a two-day monetary policy meeting. The bank will also continue large-scale asset purchases, it said in a statement.
The government raised the nation's consumption tax from 8% to 10% on October 1 despite sluggish consumer spending.
By Lucy Heming; [email protected]
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