21st Sep 2018 07:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, following substantial rises by Wall Street and Asia, even as blue-chip Smiths Group reported a drop in annual profit and revenue.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 27.98 points higher at 7,395.30 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.5% at 7,367.32 on Thursday.In early UK company news, engineering and technology firm Smiths Group reported a fall in pretax profit for the year to the end of July to GBP435 million from GBP601 million the year before, due to restructuring and administration costs.This was on revenue that dropped by 2.0% to GBP3.12 billion from GBP3.28 billion, as a result of adverse foreign exchange translations. In addition, Smiths said it will sell its sterile water bottling business to Amsino Healthcare (USA) for USD40 million, in order to concentrate the group's portfolio on its leading positions in Smiths' chosen markets.In the FTSE 250, building products retailer SIG reported pretax profit of GBP19.9 million for the first half of 2018, swinging from a loss of GBP15.8 million a year before. This was due to the absence of a GBP50.2 million loss, arising from the sale and closure of non-core businesses in the first half of 2017.Revenue for the period however slipped to GBP1.38 billion from GBP1.43 billion the prior year. SIG cited challenges in the UK market due to poor weather and political uncertainty hobbling economic growth, offsetting positive results in Mainland Europe and Ireland.SIG has kept its interim dividend flat at 1.25 pence per share from the year before.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 1.0%, the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.0% higher."A rally in tech stocks, which have done a lot of lifting for the indices over the year, in addition to fading concerns over US-Sino trade tensions saw the S&P and the Dow reach record levels. This optimism and risk on sentiment drove Asian markets higher overnight and is leading European bourses to a strong start after the opening bell. Concerns over the trade war continued to ease overnight after the latest round of tit for tat measures, announced earlier in the week, were lower than what traders had been expecting," commented Jasper Lawler, head of Research at London Capital Group.Walmart has issued a warning in a letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that the retailer may have to raise prices after the Trump administration moved forward with its plan to expand tariffs on Chinese imports, according to reports.Markets in Asia were higher on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.1%.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3256 early Friday, slightly off from USD1.3265 at the London equities close on Thursday."Sterling had a stellar run yesterday after the UK reported stronger-than-expected retail sales figures," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets."The Brexit talks continue and even though there were some conflicting reports about the state of play, the updates couldn't hold back the pound. As with any EU summit there are dozens of soundbites, and but the message wasn't optimistic. Germany's Angela Merkel said more work needs to be done, and Theresa May showed Brussels she means business as she is preparing for a 'no deal scenario'," Madden added.Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that the UK will make new proposals for maintaining an open Irish border after rejecting the EU's post-Brexit "backstop" plan."We both agree there can be no withdrawal agreement without a legally operative backstop," May told reporters."But that backstop cannot divide the UK into two customs territories, and we will be bringing forward our own proposals shortly," she said.May said she remained "confident" of reaching agreement on Britain leaving the EU in March but warned that she was also "preparing for no deal"."The immediate impact will be to raise prices on consumers and tax American business and manufacturers," Walmart reportedly said in the letter.The economic events calendar on Friday has France GDP at 0845 CEST, then France, Germany and Eurozone flash PMI at 0915 CEST, 0930 CEST and 1000 CEST, respectively. US Flash Manufacturing PMI is at 0945 EDT.Related Shares:
SIGSmiths Group