Kingfisher nails solid first half, GSK promotes Walmsley to CEO designate

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open five points lower on Tuesday, after closing up 1.54% at 6,813.55 on Monday.

Stocks to watch

B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher nailed an encouraging increase in first half profits and confirmed early progress in chief executive Véronique Laury's ambitious turnaround project. On adjusted sales that rose 6.8% at the reported level to £5.75bn, or 3.3% on a like-for-like basis on constant currencies, underlying pre-tax profits grew 13.5% to £436m.

Pharmaceutical giant GSK announced on Tuesday that Emma Walmsley - the current chief executive of the company’s consumer healthcare division - is to be appointed CEO designate, and will succeed Andrew Witty as CEO when he retires on 31 March 2017. The FTSE 100 firm said Walmsley will join the GSK board of directors from 1 January. “I am very pleased to announce Emma's appointment, after what has been a very thorough and rigorous global selection process carried out by the GSK board,” said GSK chairman Philip Hampton.

Water utility and waste management company Pennon Group is line to meet expectations for the 2017 financial year as its portfolio of energy recovery facilities remains on track to meet its target. In a trading statement for the six months ended 30 September, the FTSE 250 company said its energy recovery facilities aims to reach the earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) target of about £100m due to a ramp-up in Peterborough and availability increases at Trident Park in Cardiff and Runcorn II in Manchester.

Newspaper round-up

Theresa May will canvass leading Wall Street banks over how Britain should structure its departure from the EU to reassure them that Brexit will not damage their UK business. Mrs May will meet “mostly” chief executives from the finance sector along with figures from the technology and entertainment sectors at the midtown residence of the British consul-general in New York on Monday. - Financial Times

Up to 700 gambling industry jobs could be lost in London as a result of the impending £3.3 billion merger of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group. In an internal email, Carl Leaver, Gala Coral’s chief executive, told employees that, in an attempt to remove duplication, there could be “around 600, maybe up to 700, fewer positions” at the merged company, equivalent to about half the combined total. - The Times

Small and medium-sized house builders are struggling to find land on which to build, exacerbating the shortage of new homes, according to a new poll. A survey by the Federation of Master Builders found that 67pc SME house builders in England face a “lack of available and viable land” as their biggest problem for the second consecutive year. - Telegraph

Pre-EU referendum jitters have caused a slump in the number of shops opening their doors, according to a biannual report monitoring vacancy rates on the UK high street. Shop closures outstripped openings by 1,997 from January to the end of June, according to the retail data firm Local Data Company. - Guardian

Japan’s central bank will open a new front this week in the battle against deflation by overhauling its quantitative easing programme as policymakers worldwide look for new ideas to kickstart growth. The Bank of Japan will unveil the conclusions of a “comprehensive assessment” of its monetary policies on Wednesday, when it is expected both to increase and reprofile QE alongside an interest rate cut deeper into negative territory. - The Times

Rock-bottom returns are increasingly pushing investors to abandon the drive for socially responsible investments, according to a study from Hermes Investment Management. A survey of more than 100 institutional investors found that 60pc believe that environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) risks justify rejecting an otherwise attractive investment – down from 67pc a year ago. - Telegraph

US close

US stocks closed just below the waterline on Monday as oil prices gained and investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last down 0.01% to 18,120.17 points, the S&P 500 was flat at 2,139.12 points and the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.46% at 4,796.07 points.

At the same time oil prices were on the front after Venezuela said OPEC and non-OPEC countries were nearing a deal to stabilise output.

According to press reports, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said at a news conference: “We had a long bilateral meeting with [Iran’s president Hassan] Rouhani. We’re close to a deal between OPEC producer countries and non-OPEC.”

In addition, news that a military conflict in Libya over the weekend had affected its exports also helped to underpin prices.

West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 0.67%% to $43.32 per barrel and Brent advanced 0.35% to $45.93 per barrel.

Meanwhile, traders are awaiting Wednesday’s policy decision from the Federal Reserve, although the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged. The Bank of Japan is also set to make its policy announcement on Wednesday.

“The respective decisions from the BoJ and FOMC will no doubt shape the look and feel of markets for weeks to come, yet realistically it is just the Japanese who stand any chance of raising rates on Wednesday,” said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.