24th May 2021 10:54
(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Building materials firm HeidelbergCement said it has agreed a deal to sell some US assets for USD2.3 billion to North Carolina-based Martin Marietta Materials. The company has sold Lehigh Hanson's units in the US west region, which includes California, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada. Lehigh Hanson is a cement and aggregates subsidiary based in Irving, Texas. The Heidelberg, Germany-headquartered firm said the sale is part of a "portfolio optimisation and margin improvement programme".
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Polymetal International said it has agreed USD400 million worth of sustainability-linked loans. The financing includes a four-year USD200 million from Russian lender Raiffeisenbank and a USD200 million revolving credit facility with Milan-based UniCredit. "The two loans significantly contribute to the company's portfolio of sustainability-linked and green financing which now amounts to USD680 million and comprises approximately 40% of total debt," the gold miner said. The interest on the loans will be linked to Polymetal's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, the company explained.
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Movie house chain Cineworld reported a "strong" opening weekend in the UK. "This weekend's performance went beyond our expectations as customers were eager to return to the movies and enjoy the full movie experience, including the traditional popcorn which led to strong concession income," the cinema operator said. While outdoor hospitality was able to re-open in England on April 12, indoor entertainment, such as cinemas and museums, were only able to resume business on Monday last week. In the US, 97% of cinemas have resumed operations, Cineworld said. In its Rest of World region, Poland and Israel will be opening at the end of the coming week, and the company anticipates that most if its cinemas will be open by the end of the month.
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Neptune Energy is considering a London listing in an initial public offering that would value the oil & gas production company at between GBP5.5 billion and GBP7 billion, the Sunday Times reported. A market capitalisation of that size would qualify Neptune for inclusion in the FTSE 100 index, the newspaper noted, and make the IPO the biggest in London since Deliveroo. Neptune was founded in 2015 by Executive Chair Sam Laidlaw, the former chief executive officer of British Gas-owner Centrica and of Enterprise Oil.
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MARKETS
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European equities trading was subdued on Monday, with both the Frankfurt and Zurich markets closed for the Whit Monday holiday. London and Paris were both slightly higher, while Wall Street also was called for a positive open.
However, bitcoin trading remained as chaotic as ever. The cryptocurrency partially recovered after dropping to just above USD31,000 on Sunday, more than halving from its mid-April high of USD63,000, still reeling from new restrictions on its use in China. It was quoted around USD36,500 on Monday. "Crypto holders who are hoping for a bounce back from the initial sharp fall last Wednesday have been left sorely disappointed," commented Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. "It's become clear Beijing's stance isn't a one-off warning but the beginnings of a serious attempt to limit the decentralised power of cryptocurrencies."
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CAC 40: up 0.2% at 6,396.47
DAX 30: Frankfurt market closed for holiday.
FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 7,031.66
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.2% at 28,412.26
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.2% at 28,364.61
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.2% at 7,045.90
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DJIA: called up 0.4%
S&P 500: called up 0.5%
Nasdaq Composite: called up 0.6%
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EUR: up at USD1.2200 (USD1.2186)
GBP: down at USD1.4143 (USD1.4169)
USD: unchanged at JPY108.94
GOLD: up at USD1,877.76 per ounce (USD1,875.10)
OIL (Brent): up at USD67.69 a barrel (USD66.64)
(currency and commodities changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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European nations were demanding answers after Belarusian authorities dispatched a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight to divert to Minsk, where a dissident journalist who was on board was then arrested. Ryanair said its plane was flying from Greece to Lithuania on Sunday when it was notified of "a potential security threat on board" by air traffic controllers in Belarus and told to divert to Minsk for an emergency landing. The airline said the plane landed safely in Belarusian capital and "nothing untoward was found" after passengers were offloaded and an inspection took place. But authorities at the airport used the opportunity to arrest Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian journalist and opposition activist, who was a passenger, according to state media and the rights group Viasna. The US demanded Protasevich be immediately released. Italy called the diversion "state hijacking". The 27 EU leaders will discuss Belarus during a previously scheduled summit in Brussels on Monday, including the possibility of imposing sanctions on Minsk, a spokesperson for EU Council President Charles Michel said. Lithuania and Latvia on Sunday called for all international flights to avoid Belarusian airspace as a sanction against Belarusian authorities. Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary believes that KGB agents were aboard the passenger flight. "It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion," the head of the Irish budget airline told radio broadcaster Newstalk on Monday. "We believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well," he added.
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The possibility of all coronavirus restrictions being lifted next month is "looking good", the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency has said. Under the UK government's road map, the final stage of the unlocking is due to take place on June 21 at the earliest. However, Jenny Harries urged the public to be cautious to avoid another lockdown, warning that the new Indian variant has become the "dominant strain" in some parts of the country. From June 21 at the earliest, nightclubs are due to reopen and restrictions on large events such as festivals are to be lifted, as are restrictions on the number of people at weddings. The comments come after a study by Public Health England found that the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is 88% effective against the Indian variant after two doses. Meanwhile, the AstraZeneca jab was 60% effective, compared with 66% against the Kent variant over the same period.
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UK holidaymakers are being urged not to jet off to amber list countries, including Spain. UK Business minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said scientists still think there is "too great a risk" in travelling to amber list countries for non-urgent reasons such as holidays. Spain has officially lifted restrictions for UK travellers from Monday, with visitors no longer needing to take a PCR Covid-19 test. However, tourists going to Spain will still have to quarantine on their return under UK rules.
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Germany needs to stay vigilant and further bring down the number of coronavirus infections if the country is to enjoy a "carefree summer" and large-scale reopenings, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Sunday. "The weather is improving, the number of vaccinations is rising, infection rates are falling. The restrictions will fall one by one," Spahn told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "And that's incredibly important after the long, dark winter months. But for a carefree summer, we need to lower the incidence rate even further," he said. Germany has in recent weeks managed to break a third wave of the pandemic after imposing strict nationwide curbs and picking up the pace of vaccinations. The closely watched seven-day incidence rate in the EU's most populous country has fallen from 169 new infections per 100,000 people in late April to 64.5 on Sunday.
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Plans for an ambitious American infrastructure deal have been thrown into serious doubt after Republican senators rejected US President Joe Biden's reduced proposal of USD1.7 trillion. While talks have not collapsed, Republicans said "vast differences" remain, and the downbeat assessment is certain to stoke fears from Democrats that time is slipping away to strike a deal. The president's team is holding to a soft Memorial Day deadline to determine whether a compromise is within reach. Scepticism had been rising on all sides over the lack of significant movement off Biden's USD2.3 trillion or the Republicans' proposed USD568 billion alternative.
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]
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