Hammerson makes progress on secondary listing
London open
The FTSE is expected to start the session eights points lower from Thursday's close of 6,868.96.
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Hammerson said on Friday developments towards achieving a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) are at an “advanced stage”. The listing is expected to take place on 1 September after receiving approval from the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank. Hammerson is now awaiting formal approval from the JSE.
Faroe Petroleum applied to the LSE for 1,033,949 new ordinary shares of 10p each in respect of the vesting of employee share awards under its corporate incentive plan. Admission was expected to become effective on 23 August. Faroe held no shares in treasury, the company said in a statement.
Healthy and safety group PHSC has raised £350,000 before expenses through a share placement. The company, which provides health, safety, hygiene and environmental consultancy services, said the placement was in response to investor demand. The group placed 1,590,909 new ordinary shares of 10p each with new investors at a price of 22p per share. The placing shares represent 10.8% of the enlarged issued ordinary shares of the company. PHSC will use the funds for additional working capital, including for ongoing expenditure relating to recent acquisitions.
In the press
Britain would be foolish to turn its back on the “golden era” of relations with China, Beijing’s official news agency has claimed, dismissing concerns over Chinese involvement in the Hinkley Point nuclear project as “China-phobia”. Since becoming Prime Minister last month Theresa May has stepped back from David Cameron and George Osborne’s energetic and controversial courtship of China, infuriating Beijing by postponing a final decision on the approval of the proposed £18bn ($23.5bn) nuclear power station. – The Guardian
Families who have remained loyal to their energy firm for 15 years have paid about £3,000 more on their bills than those who switch supplier, a study from Energy Helpline says. As many as one in ten households have been sitting on the expensive standard variable rate tariff of their energy firm for a decade, researchers found. – Daily Mail
A whistleblower who helped to expose false accounting at Deutsche Bank has turned down a multimillion-dollar award from the Securities and Exchange Commission in protest against the agency’s failure to punish executives at the bank. Eric Ben-Artzi, a former Deutsche risk officer, told the US financial regulator that he is declining his share of a $16.5 million (£1.25 million) payout, the third largest in the whistleblower programme’s history. – The Times
US close
Wall Street edged higher on Friday as investors continued to assess the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes which showed policymakers were divided over the timing of an interest rate hike and crude oil futures moved sharply higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.13% to 18,597.70 points, the S&P 500 was up 0.22% to 2,187.02 and the Nasdaq gained 0.22% to 5,240.15 points.
Oil prices rose as the dollar weakened on the back of the Fed minutes released on Wednesday night. West Texas Intermediate crude increased $1.32 to $48.22 per barrel.
Investors were left baffled by the minutes of the Fed's July meeting, released late on Wednesday. The minutes revealed that some policymakers believed the US economic outlook and labour market were strong enough to “warrant taking another step”. Although others urged caution, saying more economic data was needed.