Markets Overview:

UK 100 called to open +10 points at 7170; on the back of an overnight statement by Chinese Vice foreign minister stating that “progress was being made” in trade talks with the US, global equity markets have reacted positively. In Asia we saw a green sweep of markets, the Nikkei up .25%, whilst the Hang Sang .15% up. Also adding the positive market sentiment in Asia was the news that China's central bank will inject $35 billion in liquidity. This followed an equally buoyant trading session in the US yesterday, once again green was the colour across the board. The Dow Jones rising 0.21%, the S&P 0.69% and the Nasdaq just shy of 1% at 0.93%. Elsewhere Trudeau wins second term as Canadian PM. Following yesterday’s decision in parliament to not have a second meaningful vote, today Boris Johnson will find out ‪at around 7 p.m. in London if he has any chance of getting his Brexit deal through Parliament, and ahead of his ‪Oct. 31 deadline. Once again stay close to Brexit (Sterling) sensitive stocks today, we highlighted this yesterday, and we saw significant movements. Crude prices slipped slightly overnight, falling to just above $59 per barrel. Whilst Chinese stimulus added to risk on appetite and pushed gold back to $1485.

In corporate news this morning:

Anglo American today released their production report for Q3, showing an increase of 4% for the quarter, driven by Minas-Rio and strong performance at Metallurgical Coal.  Copper production fell by 8% due to drought conditions impacting Chilean mine.  Diamonds -14% YoY; Copper -8% YoY; Platinum -1% YoY; Palladium unch; Iron Ore unch; Metallurgical Coal +22% YoY; Thermal coal -18% YoY; Nickel -2% YoY; Manganese Ore +3%.

Bunzl announced their Q3 2019 trading update that the group’s expectations for FY 2019 remain unchanged with overall trading consistent with the slowing underlying revenue growth indicated in previous announcements this year due to Brexit uncertainty. 

Reckitt Benckiser reported that their Q3 performance was disappointing. A slow Q3, but said building the business for the long term. LFL Growth in Q3 of +1.6%; LFL performance in health -0.3%; LFL growth in Hygiene Home in Q3 of +4.5%; Full year revenue target reduced to 0-2%; Full year 2019 Adj Op Margin expected modest decline.

St James’s Place announced continued strong net inflows which have driven funds under management to a record £112.8bn. They recorded £3.74bn worth of new funds in Q3 2019, coupled with strong retention of existing clients. 

Whitbread delivered strong strategic progress in challenging market conditions. Adj Rev -0.1% YoY; Adj EBITDAR -4.8% YoY; Adj Profit before Tax (pre IFRS 16) -5.6%; Adj Profit before Tax (post IFRS 16) -4.1%; Adj EPS +5.4%; Statutory profit (Excluding Costa in H1 FY19) -8.1%; Statutory basic EPS +1.9%; Interim Dividend unchanged.

Source: Bloomberg, FT, Reuters, DJ Newswires, AlphaTerminal

Upgrades/Downgrades:

Intercontinental Hotels Group downgraded to a reduce rating by Numis Securities (Bloomberg: 6 buys/ 6 holds/ 11 sells)

Tui Downgraded to an Equalweight/ in-line rating by Morgan Stanley (Bloomberg: 14 buys/ 9 holds/ 1 sells)

SSE Upgraded to a Buy rating by HSBC (Bloomberg: 9 buys/10 holds/ 0 sells)

In Focus Today:

ECB Lending Survey

US Existing Home Sales

Companies reporting today:

Reckitt Benckiser, St James Place, Travis Perkins, Whitbread

Companies reporting tomorrow:

Softcat

Companies reporting next week:

AJ Bell, Kaz Minerals, National Express Group, Royal Bank Of Scotland (RBS), RELX, Astrazeneca, WH Smith, Barclays

(Full list available on Week in advance)

This Week's Ex-Dividends:

ITV - 2%

Ferguson  - 1.8%

Rolls Royce - 0.6%

William Hill - 1.3%

(Full list available on Week in advance)

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