Macron runs away with French presidential election, Centrica suffers lower energy consumption
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 23 points higher on Monday, after closing up 0.68% at 7,297.43 on Friday.
Stocks to watch
British Gas owner Centrica said energy consumption has been lower than expected in the UK and North America so far in 2017 due to warmer than normal weather and that UK wholesale oil, gas and power prices have all fallen since it announced results in February. But the FTSE 100 company insisted it remained on track to achieve the 2017 targets set out in its results announcement, including adjusted operating cash flow of at least £2bn.
European markets, and many French people, were breathing a sigh of relief on Monday morning, with the news centrist Emmanuel Macron had crushed controversial far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the weekend’s run-off election to become France’s next president. With 98% counted, Macron had 20,429,650 votes for 65.8%, double Le Pen’s 10,608,109 votes for 34.2%. The euro was in a good mood on the result, last moving 0.04% stronger against sterling to €1.1808, and 0.15% against the greenback to €0.9106.
Newspaper round-up
Staying loyal to an insurer can cost families up to £1,000 a year. Firms overcharge by up to three times to fund their cut-price deals for new customers. Long-standing customers are offered good rates only if they challenge renewal quotes or threaten to leave. - Mail
Big energy suppliers’ profit margins hit a record high last year as they failed to pass on wholesale cost savings to their customers, according to figures that are likely to fuel support for a price cap. The combined profits of British Gas, EDF Energy, Eon, Npower and Scottish Power, five of the Big Six suppliers, rose by 7.8 per cent to almost £1.1 billion in 2016, analysis of company accounts by Lazarus Research shows. - The Times
Directory enquiries companies have been accused of ripping off its elderly customers by charging almost £9 for a single phonecall. Calls to the popular 118 118 line, known for their eccentric adverts, now cost a minimum of £8.98, an increase of more than 2,000 per cent in 15 years and more than a premium-rate sex line. - Mail
European workers are crucial to the success of UK businesses and the wider economy, and the government must not shut off access to those staff, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned. Britain should have an immigration system “based on need” rather than an arbitrary 100,000 target, said Carolyn Fairbairn, the business group’s director general. - Telegraph
Rents in London have fallen for the first time since 2009, adding to signs that the London housing market is stalling after years of rising growth in house prices. According to data collected by HomeLet, rents in London were 1.2 per cent lower in April than in the same month last year, marking the first annual fall in eight years to an average price of £1,519. - The Times
US close
Wall Street's main stockmarket gauges ended higher on Friday after what some economists labelled a "solid" jobs report for the month of April, with the S&P 500 notching up fresh record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up by 0.56% to 21,006.94, while the S&P 500 added 0.41% to 2,399.29 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.42% to close at 6,100.96. Over the week as a whole, the S&P 500 added 0.6%.
Gains over the latest five-day stretch came despite data showing investors were moving out of equities and against a backdrop of the heaviest selling in commodity markets seen in months.
Over the week to 4 May, outflows from global equity funds reached $3.6bn, whilst inflows to bonds were running at $9.7bn. However, strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch were in fact optimistic, telling clients that the ongoing mix of maximum central bank liquidity and low economic growth in fact pointed to the possibility of a repeat of the 1999 'tech mania'.
Nonetheless, they noted that "mania for equities [is] significantly lower today than 1999-2000".