Markets Overview:

UK 100 called to open +22 points at 7434; Asian stocks and Chinese futures dropped again Tuesday, though contracts on U.S. equity benchmarks edged higher, as investors tried to gauge the magnitude of economic damage from the coronavirus. Japanese shares headed for their worst back-to-back daily losses since last August’s trade-war worries. South Korean stocks slumped more than 3%. Asian trading the Nikkei fall further, closing at 23,217 (-125 points) although wider losses were pulled back towards the end of the session, similarly to yesterday, the Hang Seng actually made modest gains, closing at 27,949 (+40 points). During yesterday’s U.S session the major indices mirrored global markets trading before their open. The Dow Jones closed down 453 points, at 28,535. The story was the same on the S&P dropping over 1.5% to close at 3,243, this was also the case on the Nasdaq closing at 9,139 (-175 points). Facing economic collapse and painful sanctions, the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has proposed giving majority shares and control of its oil industry to big international corporations, a move that would forsake decades of state monopoly, Crude oil however continued to trade below $60 a barrel after yesterday’s sell off. Traditional safe haven gold held above $1580 overnight.

In corporate news this morning:

Crest Nicholson sees pre-tax profit of £102m (2018: £167m) with FY sales falling 2.4%. Total FY dividend maintained at 33p per share (unchanged). FY adjusted Profit before tax down to £121.1m (2018: £168.7m) in line with previous guidance. They remain confident in ability to deliver on previous guidance and re-iterate expectations for FY20 with adjusted Profit before tax at £110-120m.  

Just Eat announce that it has agreed to a partnership nationwide with McDonald’s in the UK and Ireland. 2019 concluded in line with Board’s expectations. They now expect to report EBITDA of around £200m, with group orders of 254m and revenue of approximately £1bn.  

Saga report that they expect FY underlying Profit before tax to be in line with their previous guidance. 

Sainsbury announces a new initiative to become Net Zero by 2040 and are committing £1bn over 20 years to achieve this. They are focusing on reducing carbon emissions, food waste, plastic packaging, water usage and increasing recycling, biodiversity and healthy and sustainable eating.

Severn Trent affirms FY view as there have been no material changes to performance or outlook for year 19/20. They expect dividend for 2020/21 to be 101.58p.

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

Reporting Today:

Crest Nicholson, McCarthy, PZ Cussons, , Barr (A.G.), UDG Healthcare

Reporting Tomorrow

None

In Focus Today:

US non-defence Capital Goods Orders (Excluding Aircraft)

US Consumer Confidence

This Week's Ex Dividends:

UK 100 :

None

:

IG Group

Victrex

Upgrades/Downgrades

BAE upgraded to overweight by Barclays (Bloomberg: 13 Buys/ 9 Holds/ 1 Sells)

Diageo downgraded to underweight by J.P. Morgan (Bloomberg: 10 Buys/ 12 Holds/ 3 Sells)

Rio Tinto upgraded to Hold by Morningstar (Bloomberg: 10 Buys/ 14 Holds/ 6 Sells)

Standard Chartered upgraded to Hold by Investec (Bloomberg: 9 Buys/ 5 Holds/ 10 Sells)

Standard Chartered upgraded to buy by Morningstar (Bloomberg: 9 Buys/ 4 Holds/ 1 Sells)

SThree Downgraded to add by Numis Securities (Bloomberg: 6 Buys/ 2 Holds/ 0 Sells)

Victrex downgraded to Reduce by HSBC (Bloomberg: 4 Buys/ 8 Holds/ 3 Sells)

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