GSK indicates possible COPD drug success, Carillion extends Centrica partnership

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 5 points lower on Monday, after closing up 2.2% at 6,894.60 on Friday.

Stocks to watch

Tests of a GlaxoSmithKline respiratory drug have found a statistically significant reduction in the rate of attacks suffered by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients compared to when they receive the standard treatment. The pioneering Salford Lung Study into the effectiveness and safety of GSK's drug also showed a similar improvement against patients who were taking a medicine in the same class as Relvar Ellipta.

LondonMetric Property announced on Monday that it has sold a retail park in Warrington for £6.6m, at a net initial yield of 5.4%, and acquired an 89,000 sq ft distribution warehouse in Hemel Hempstead for £8.3m, at a NIY 6.4%. The FTSE 100 firm said the Fordton retail park in Warrington comprises 20,200 sq ft and is let to Aldi, Greggs, Betfred, Barnardo's and Costa. In Hemel Hempstead, the recently refurbished distribution warehouse is let to ITAB, the shop concept company, at a rent of £6.24 per square foot and with an unexpired lease term of 8.3 years.

Construction and maintenance company Carillion extended its partnership with utility firm Centrica for a further five years to deliver facilities management and project services, in a deal worth £90m. The service is to start in December and builds on the FTSE 250 firm’s existing decade-long, management service for Centrica’s British Gas business and will now include total facilities management.

Newspaper round-up

Banks are demanding up to five years to deal with the consequences of Britain’s departure from the European Union, a move that if successful could prompt accusations of favouritism and incur the wrath of those campaigning for a swift exit. Britain’s lenders are pressing to be allowed up to three further years to arrange their affairs for Brexit on top of the two-year period that will be triggered when Theresa May invokes Article 50. They say they need more time because of the complexities of having to move big operations away from the UK. - The TImes

Britain’s efforts to get fracking for shale gas have suffered a fresh delay after it emerged a legal challenge against the only approved project will not be heard until the end of November. Shale explorer Third Energy had hoped it might start work at its Kirby Misperton site in North Yorkshire as soon as the end of this year, after getting planning consent in May. - Telegraph

Theresa May has ruled out a radical switch to an immigration system that would strip EU citizens of their preferential access to the UK, in comments expected to inflame Brexit supporters. The prime minister, speaking ahead of her first G20 summit in China, is considering a more modest reform of immigration rules for EU citizens, knowing that severe curbs could leave Britain excluded from large parts of the single market. - Financial Times

US close

Wall Street closed higher on Friday after the latest monthly jobs numbers left economists divided as to whether it took away from the Fed´s arguments to go ahead and hike rates at its 20-21 September meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39% or 72.66 points to close at 18,491.66 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.42% or 9.12 points to finish at 2,179.98 points and the Nasdaq rose 0.43% or 22.69 points to finish at 5,249.90.

Trading volumes were slightly lighter than usual ahead of the long Labour Day holiday, with the S&P 500 closing up by 0.5% for the week as a whole.

In parallel, crude oil prices jumped on renewed hopes of a deal to freeze output at OPEC’s informal meeting on 26-28 September. West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 99 cents to see the day out from the $44.44 per barrel level.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US advanced three basis points to close at 1.60%, with Fed funds futures assigning odds of 50.4% to an interest rate increase by the US Fed by the time of its December meeting, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange´s Fed Watch tool.

From a sector standpoint, the biggest gains were to be seen among the following industrial groups: Gold mining (2.78%), Marine transportation (2.72%), Mining (2-41%) and Mobile Telecommunications (2.04%).