Easyjet numbers up, Clarkson in line
London open
The FTSE 100 was being called six points lower on Friday after finishing the prior session just four points short of the 7,700 level.
Stocks to watch
Budget airline Easyjet reported a 5.5% year-on-year increase in passengers for December to 5.88m. The load factor was up to 91.4% from 89.9%. Cancellations rose to 580 from 330 a year earlier, largely due to adverse weather conditions causing around 400 and runway closures making up the majority of the rest along with industrial action.
Shipping broker Clarkson said it expected full year results for 2017 to be in line with current expectations. In a brutally short statement, the FTSE 250 group confirmed results for the calendar year will be released on 12 March 2018.
Newspaper round-up
The administrators of the collapsed recruitment agency that failed to pay the minimum wage to more than a thousand Sports Direct workers are pursuing debts owed by its directors. Qualitycourse, which traded as Transline Group, collapsed into administration in May and the main business was sold immediately to Russell Taylor Group leaving a rump in the hands of Deloitte, the administrators. In a report posted at Companies House last week Deloitte said that it would “continue to pursue the recovery of the directors and related company loan accounts”. – The Times
New cars sold in Britain last year were more harmful to the environment than those in 2016 because of the “demonisation” of diesel. Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed that average CO2 emissions from cars sold last year were higher than in 2016, reversing a near 20-year decline. - Telegraph
MPs are calling for a 25p charge on takeaway coffee in a move that could see disposable cups banned in five years time. In the UK 2.5bn takeaway coffee cups are used and thrown away each year – enough to stretch around the world five-and-a-half-times. The UK produces 30,000 tonnes of coffee cup waste each year, according to a report published by MPs on the environmental audit committee on Friday. - The Guardian
US close
US shares continued their powerful start to the new year with the Dow Jones index breaching 25,000 points for the first time.
At the close the Dow was up 0.61% or 152 points to 25,074, led by advances in IBM and Goldman Sachs, alongside a rise of 0.4% or 10.85 points for the S&P 500 to 2,724 and an increase of 0.18% or 12.38 points to 7,078 for the Nasdaq Composite.
Stoking buying interest, consultancy ADP reported a 250,000 person increase in private sector hiring during December, outpacing a consensus forecast for a 190,000 person jump.