Auto Trader accelerates, Metro Bank reduces IPO

London open

On Wednesday morning traders said they expected to see the FTSE 100 index rise by 13 points, extending the slight gains from the day before.

Stocks to watch

Glencore has shored up access to its future cash requirements, announcing the signing a new revolving credit facility of a similar scope to its current one that expires in May. The new facility will ultimately refinance and replace the existing $8.45bn (£5.92bn) facility.

AstraZeneca has won fast-track US regulatory approval for a particular application of its most promising cancer drugs. Durvalumab, a highly innovative immuno-oncology treatment that helps empower the patient's immune system and attack the cancer, has been given Breakthrough Therapy designation (BTD) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for inoperable or metastatic urothelial bladder cancer.

Auto Trader was trading ahead of expectations in the latter half of the year, with the group updating the market on Wednesday on its operations in the four months since its interim results. The FTSE 250 automotive marketplace provider's board said it had performed well since 27 September, with a stronger-than-anticipated increase in both average revenue per retailer forecourt (ARPR), and consumer services revenue.

Newspaper round-up

Metro Bank is slashing the size of its initial public offering by almost a fifth following the recent sell-off across the banking sector, investors in the UK challenger bank were told overnight. Metro said that it had cut the price of its offering from £24 per share to £20, and reduced the amount it aims to raise from £500m to £400m. – Financial Times

Four of Britain’s oldest nuclear power plants are to keep generating electricity for up to seven years longer than planned, renewing fears about the capability of Britain’s over-stretched nuclear safety regulator to cope with a growing workload. EDF, the French state-owned energy giant, said the Heysham 1 plant in Lancashire and another at Hartlepool in Co Durham, both of which had been due to be switched off in 2019 because of their advanced age, would be allowed to keep producing electricity for another five years. – The Times

Politicians outraged by Mike Ashley’s refusal to appear before parliament may get the chance to grill the founder of Sports Direct over the running of his sports fashion company. The entrepreneur is reported to have offered to meet MPs and answer any questions about working conditions at the retailer’s headquarters and giant warehouse facility. – The Times

US close

US stocks ended in the black on Tuesday as bright spots on the corporate front helped to offset a drop in oil prices and some uninspiring data releases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 1.4%, the Nasdaq increased 2.3% and the S&P 500 closed 1.7% firmer.

Oil prices reversed an earlier surge higher as market participants were left disappointed that Saudia Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela agreed only to freeze oil output at January levels, rather than cut it.