Countryside Partnerships chairman resigns, Clarkson delivers 'strong' H1 performance
London pre-open
The FTSE 100 was being called to open 35.8 points lower ahead of the bell on Wednesday after the index closed 0.18% higher in the previous session at 7,209.86.
Stocks to watch
Property developer Countryside Partnerships revealed on Wednesday that chairman John Martin had decided to resign from all his roles at the company with immediate effect.
Countryside said senior independent director Douglas Hurt will take over as chairman, while Amanda Burton will replace Hurt, effective immediately.
Shipping services group Clarkson said on Wednesday that it now expects to report unaudited underlying pre-tax profits of no less than £42.0m for the six months ended 30 June.
Clarkson added that its first-half performance had been "strong" across all divisions, with its broking unit performing "particularly well".
Newspaper round-up
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss secured the endorsement of senior cabinet ministers yesterday as the Tory leadership contest descended into vitriol. Eight candidates will battle today to succeed Boris Johnson after Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, withdrew when he failed to win enough support. - The Times
The UK economy grew by more than expected in May despite surging inflation and a deepening cost-of-living crisis. GDP grew 0.5% over the month, according to the Office for National Statistics. That marked a turnaround from April's revised 0.2% fall. - Telegraph
The UK's failure to get serious about inequality and weak growth over the past 15 years has left the average British household £8,800 poorer than its equivalent in five comparable countries, research has found. A "toxic combination" of poor productivity and a failure to narrow the divide between rich and poor had resulted in a widening prosperity gap with France, Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, the report from the Resolution Foundation said. - Guardian
Soaring European gas prices could force UK inflation higher for longer, the governor of the Bank of England warned yesterday as he vowed to tame rising prices. "Bringing inflation back down to the 2% target sustainably is our job — no ifs or buts," Andrew Bailey told the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. - The Times
Neil Woodford has retreated from an attempt to recapture his crown as Britain's biggest fund manager as a company meant to relaunch his career is wound up. Paperwork shows that directors at Mr Woodford's business WCM Partners have applied to strike it from the official register, just over a year after the former star manager announced comeback plans in a Telegraph interview following the collapse of his previous empire. - Telegraph
Twitter sued Elon Musk on Tuesday to force him to complete his $44.0bn takeover of the social media giant after he announced on Friday he would withdraw his bid. "Musk's exit strategy is a model of hypocrisy," the lawsuit said, accusing the billionaire of making "bad faith" arguments against Twitter and carrying out "public and misleading attacks" on the company. - Guardian
US close
Wall Street trading ended in negative territory on Tuesday as global economic growth concerns remained in focus ahead of a potentially rough earnings season.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.62% at 30,981.33, while the S&P 500 lost 0.92% to 3,818.80 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.95% weaker at 11,264.73.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com