Babcock wins £100m contract in Canada, Shire treatment cleared for Europe launch

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 23 points lower on Friday, having closed up 0.49% at 7,038.95 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

Engineer Babcock on Friday said it had won a £100m 10-year contract for aerial firefighting by the government of Manitoba, Canada. This is the first firefighting work the group has won outside of Europe and will start in April 2019. Babcock will manage, maintain and operate Manitoba's fleet of seven firefighting fixed-wing Canadair water-bomber amphibious aircraft, supported by three Babcock Twin Commander aircraft.

St. Modwen Properties confirmed the redemption of its £80.0m 6.25% fixed rate bonds due 2019 on Friday, ahead of their final maturity next year. The FTSE 250 company said it was in line with the calculation it announced on 28 November, and the redemption notice on 29 October.

Shire's injectable treatment for hereditary angioedema has been cleared for launch in European, having enjoyed early success in the US. The European Commission gave Takhzyro, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits formation of the enzyme kallikrein that triggers hereditary angioedema, marketing authorisation in prevention of recurrent attacks of the condition in patients aged 12 years and older.

Newspaper round-up

Monzo, the fastest growing bank in Britain by new current accounts, has been accused of “going beyond the pale” by allowing its customers to get into debt to buy its shares. The digital mobile-only bank is aiming to raise £20 million through the crowdfunding website Crowdcube and its own mobile phone app. The prospectus for the keenly awaited capital raising, which is scheduled for next week, shows that it will allow eligible customers to go overdrawn by up to £1,000 to buy its shares. - The Times

UK rail fares will rise by 3.1% in January, the industry body the Rail Delivery Group has said. New fares for all tickets to take effect from 2 January 2019, published on Friday, show an average rise that will add more than £100 to many commuters’ annual season tickets. - Guardian

The US government has charged the British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch with fraud over the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard in 2011. The Department of Justice filed four charges against Mr Lynch in a San Francisco court on Thursday, naming Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president for finance, as a co-defendant. - Telegraph

US close

US markets finished as they started on Thursday, in the red, following strong gains during the previous session on the back of a seemingly dovish speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.11% at 25,338.84, the S&P 500 lost 0.22% to 2,737.76, and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.3% weaker at 6,892.40.

On Wednesday, the Dow surged more than 600 points after Powell said US interest rates were "just below" neutral levels, barely two months after saying they were "a long way" from neutral, leading US equity markets to their best session since March.

“If a December pop for equities, or Santa Rally, were going to occur then a more easy Fed will do it,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

“The softer language from the Fed will be heard loud and clear by equity markets as a sign it's aware of the risks of tightening too quickly.

“Of course, there is another way to read it. In some ways this was about correcting a pretty basic error when he said rates are long way from neutral.”