Ashtead extends maturity of senior credit facility, Wizz Air passenger numbers rise in December

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 25 points lower on Thursday, having closed up 0.09% at 6,734.23 on Wednesday.

Stocks to watch

Ashtead said it had extended the maturity of its senior credit facility to December 2023 and increased it to $4.1bn. Depending on availability under the facility and leverage, the pricing grid ranges from LIBOR plus 125 – 175 basis points - a 25 basis point cut.

Low cost airline Wizz Air Holdings reported a 18.3% year-on-year rise in December passenger numbers to 2.66m as capacity rose 16.5% to to 2.99m seats.

High street fashion retailer Next announced on Thursday that its full-price sales for the Christmas trading period between 28 October and 29 December were in line with the guidance it issued in September, and were up by 1.5% year-on-year. The FTSE 100 company said strong sales in the three weeks prior to Christmas, along with a good half-term holiday week at the end of October, made up for disappointing sales in November.

Newspaper round-up

Britain’s manufacturers are facing the biggest shortage of skilled workers since 1989 amid record levels of UK employment and falling numbers of EU 27 nationals coming to the country to work since the Brexit vote. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said more than four-fifths of manufacturers struggled to hire the right staff in the final months of 2018. – Guardian

Apple cut its sales forecasts for its key end of year period on Wednesday, citing the unforeseen “magnitude” of the economic slowdown in China. Trading in the company’s shares was temporarily halted as Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, issued a letter to shareholders explaining the reason for the change. When selling started again, Apple shares fell by 7.45%, wiping $55bn (£44bn) off its value. – Guardian

A high-profile insider trading case against Deutsche Boerse's former boss Carsten Kengeter has closed after he agreed to pay €4.75m (£4.2m) and make a donation to charity. The decision to drop the probe ends a long-running investigation which began when Deutsche Boerse was in merger talks with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) over a potential £21bn deal. The ill-fated tie-up was eventually quashed for competition reasons. – Telegraph

A Californian fashion brand that counts celebrities Jennifer Lopez and Cara Delevingne as fans is gearing up for a £25m listing on London's junior stock market. LA-based photographer and DJ Corey Epstein and entrepreneur Mark Lynn set up DSTLD in 2014 to sell premium jeans directly to consumers at a lower price than traditional retailers. – Telegraph

The government could raise almost £7 billion a year by tightening up five wealth taxes, a think tank has claimed. Income growth in Britain has been stagnant for more than a decade, but levels of wealth have soared and the taxation system is not properly geared towards taxing it, the Resolution Foundation said. – The Times

US close

US stocks reversed earlier losses to finish in the green on Wednesday, ringing in the new year despite disappointing Chinese manufacturing data undermining sentiment before the opening bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.08% at 23,346.24, the S&P 500 added 0.13% to 2,510.03, and the Nasdaq 100 improved 0.49% to 6,360.87.

Not long after the open, both the Dow and the S&P were down 0.7%.

“The year has already got off to a disappointing start, with risk aversion weighing heavily across asset classes as the trend that battered confidence in the final month of last year carries over into this,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam of the negative start to the session.

“Naturally, it was a rather quiet end to the year with nothing really changing on the fundamental landscape but unfortunately during that time of reflection, investors found no reason to be less pessimistic.”