Endeavour to conduct definitive study at Assafou-Dibibango, BAT on track with full-year targets

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 38 points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 0.86% on Tuesday at 8,280.36.

Stocks to watch

Endeavour Mining said it would conduct a definitive feasibility study on its Assafou-Dibibango gold project in Côte d’Ivoire after preliminary assessment met strategic targets and confirmed its potential to be a tier one asset. Ian Cockerill, CEO, commented that the first study had defined a “large, low-cost and long mine life project, capable of producing 330koz a year over the first 10 years, while remaining firmly in the lowest cost quartile”.

British American Tobacco confirmed it remained on track to meet its 2024 financial guidance on Wednesday, driven by second-half acceleration from investments in US commercial actions, new category innovations, and inventory adjustments. The FTSE 100 company reported strong performance in ‘New Categories’, including improved profitability in heated products and modern oral categories, despite challenges from “illicit” vapour markets in the US and Canada. It said it was committed to sustainable shareholder returns through cash generation, progressive dividends, and share buybacks, and aimed to return to mid-term revenue and profit growth targets by 2026.

Newspaper round-up

Train managers at Avanti West Coast are to strike in a dispute over rest day working. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union plan to walk out on 22, 23 and 29 December. Union members voted overwhelmingly against the company’s proposals. – Guardian

Britain’s car finance scandal could end up being as big as the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling saga, which cost UK banks £50bn, the City regulator’s top lawyer has admitted. Stephen Braviner Roman, the Financial Conduct Authority’s general counsel and executive director in charge of legal affairs, said October’s shock court of appeal ruling into car finance commission arrangements vastly expanded the scope of potential consumer compensation. - Guardian

The US owner of Boots is in talks with an American private equity giant about a potential takeover, in a move that is expected to trigger a fresh auction of the British high street chain. Walgreens Boots Alliance, which has owned the UK chemist since 2014, is reportedly in discussions with Sycamore Partners about a deal that could value the company at as much as $10bn (£7.8bn). – Telegraph

The Financial Conduct Authority has warned MPs that a push for the regulator to encourage growth must not encourage a “race to the bottom” and that parliament must be prepared to stand by the revised remit when “more things go wrong”. Nikhil Rathi, the authority’s chief executive, and Ashley Alder, its chairman, told the Treasury committee about the challenges the regulator would face after being asked by the government to do more to promote economic growth alongside its objectives to protect consumers and market integrity. – The Times

A settlement has been agreed between Shell and Greenpeace after the environmental charity occupied one of the multinational’s vessels to protest against its North Sea oil drilling plans. The campaign group has agreed to donate £300,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, after the oil major claimed that it had incurred significant costs when six Greenpeace activists boarded a ship carrying a floating production, storage and offloading vessel last year, as it was en route to a shipyard in Norway. – The Times

US close

Major indices closed lower on Tuesday as both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite retreated from their record highs in the previous session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.35% at 44,247.83, while the S&P 500 lost 0.30% to 6,034.91 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.25% weaker at 19,687.24.

The Dow opened 154.10 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Stocks lacked direction on Tuesday as traders continued to hold out for tomorrow's consumer price index report, which comes just a week before the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision.

On Tuesday's macro slate, the National Federation of Independent Business' small optimism index jumped to 101.7 in November for the highest reading since June 2021, up from 93.7 in October and ahead of expectations for a reading of 94.2.