3i Infrastructure boosts NAV, National Grid earnings fail to spark

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 41 points higher on Thursday, after closing up 1% at 6,911.84 on Wednesday.

Stocks to watch

Private equity group 3i Infrastructure reported an increase in net asset value in the first half as its investments had little impact from the geopolitical uncertainty and financial market volatility. Net asset value per share rose to 551p at 30 September from 463p at 31 March. The company made a private equity gross investment return of £989m, supported by “continued strong financial and operational performance across the portfolio”.

Electricity infrastructure operator National Grid posted its half-year report on Thursday, with adjusted earnings per share of 28.2p, in line with last year, and operating profit of £1.9bn, up 1% including favourable timing and the effect of foreign exchange. The FTSE 100 company made capital investment of £2.2bn during the period, up 12% - or 6% at constant currency. It declared an interim dividend of 15.17p per share, in line with the board’s dividend policy.

ITV’s revenues increased as it rebalanced the television network, it reported on Thursday morning, but advertising revenue for the third quarter was down due to political and economic uncertainty. For the nine months ended 30 September, external revenue increased 5% to £2.15bn, including currency benefit, compared to last year.

Newspaper round-up

Donald Trump’s election as US president denied Hillary Clinton the prize of being the first woman in the White House but could boost the hopes of a female politician across the Atlantic: Marine Le Pen. France is the next big western democracy due to elect its president and a win for the far-right National Front leader in May’s election would cause a political earthquake in Europe to rival Mr Trump’s victory this week. – Financial Times

Business leaders have outlined their vision of a London-only visa that would allow them to maintain access to foreign labour. Under the proposals from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, businesses in the UK capital would be able to sponsor skilled workers with a job offer for a visa. – Financial Times

Tata Steel has been lambasted for considering closing its UK pension scheme before making a £60m payment scheduled for next year. Stephen Kinnock, the Labour MP for Aberavon, said it would be an “absolute disgrace” if Tata closed the scheme without making the payment and said the Indian company had “moral and social responsibilities”. - Guardian

Homebuyers are slowly returning to the property market after the uncertainty caused by the referendum, but there are not enough homes to meet demand, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Its keenly-watched monthly residential market survey reported that buyer inquiries are up for the second month running, but there has been further fall in instructions. – Telegraph

Britain’s eight remaining coal-fired power plants will be forced to close by 2025, unless they take the unlikely step of investing vast sums in new technology to slash their carbon emissions. Ministers said the plans, which follow an initial pledge last autumn to phase out coal, would “provide confidence to investors” in new, cleaner gas-fired power plants and help to “significantly reduce emissions from the UK’s energy use”. - Telegraph

What one analyst called “significant headwinds”, dominated by a customer exodus and including, ironically, a distinct lack of puff powering its wind farms have triggered a plunge in profits at SSE. The Perth-based energy supplier, one of the industry’s so-called Big Six, said that pre-tax profits had slipped to £475 million in the six months to September 30, from £548 million a year earlier. – The Times

A record number of women have joined the upper ranks of Goldman Sachs as partners as it aims to propel more of them into senior management positions and close the gender gap at the top of the Wall Street bank. Nineteen Goldman Sachs managing directors were told yesterday that they had been promoted to its partnership, including four of the bank’s highest- flying Europe-based women bankers. – The Times

US close

US stocks closed near to three-month highs on Wednesday after self-styled 'outsider billionaire' Donald Trump bewildered pollsters to win the race to become the next president of the United States before offering handfuls of olive branches in his victory speech that calmed market doomsayers, temporarily at least.

Although volumes of 'expert' warnings had trumpeted that a triumph for the tangerine-tinged Republican candidate would definitely lead to volatility if not widespread losses and a surge into gold and other safe havens, Wall Street opened fairly serenely before beginning a climb that lasted almost the entire session.

Earlier, Dow and S&P futures and Asian markets had dived into deep losses as the likelihood of a victory for the Aberdeenshire business owner increased overnight, before feeding into a major early plunge in European markets such as the DAX and CAC 40.

But Trump could be given some credit for restoring some initial order. His victory speech, which was conciliatory and given in a markedly less maverick tone with strong calls for unity on a number of issues, seemed to be the factor that brought calm to global markets.

And by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.4% to 18,589.69 points, after futures markets had earlier pointed to an 800-point loss, with the S&P 500 rising 1.11% to 2,163.26 and the Nasdaq also 1.11% to 5,251.07.