Halma buys out Rath Communications, Rio Tinto iron ore shipments rise 2pc

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 33 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.4% at 6,834.92 on Thursday.

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Safety, health and environmental technology group Halma said it had bought Rath Communications, a provider of emergency communication systems for areas of refuge in the US, for $42.4m (£32.6m), on a cash and debt free basis. An area of refuge is a location in a building designed to hold occupants during a fire or other emergency, when evacuation may not be safe or possible.

Rio Tinto said it shipped 2% more iron ore last year, while copper production increased by a third after a solid final quarter of the year. The FTSE 100 group said the negative impact to profits from raw material input price inflation, particularly in the aluminium business, had continued in the second half of 2018.

Cloud-enabled security software provider Sophos Group updated the market on its trading for the nine months ended 31 December on Friday, reporting 2% growth in constant currency billings for both the third quarter the year-to-date. The FTSE 250 compsny said revenue improved 14% year-to-date on both a reported and constant currency basis, which was primarily driven by continued growth in subscription revenue. Profitability was also significantly improved, with adjusted operating profit up 157% year-to-date.

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Cabinet ministers have warned that Theresa May will face mass resignations if MPs are barred from trying to stop a no-deal Brexit. The Prime Minister said on Thursday that it is "impossible" to rule out a no-deal Brexit under the terms of Article 50 and warned that it "not in the Government's power" to do so. - Telegraph

The DUP would be open to a soft Brexit that kept the whole of the UK in a customs union with Brussels, senior sources said. In a break from Conservative Brexiteers, leading figures in the DUP have indicated that they could sign up to a Norway-style deal with a customs union if it removed the threat of the Northern Irish backstop. - The Times

Netflix added 8.8 million paid subscribers in the last quarter, up 34% compared with the year-earlier period, as the streaming media company launched hits including the movies Bird Box and Roma and the series You, The Haunting of Hill House and Sex Education. The company’s fourth-quarter earnings were broadly in line with analyst estimates and came after the streaming media giant announced a subscription price hike. - Guardian

US close

US stocks managed to close in positive territory on Thursday, as investors digested fresh concerns over Sino-US relations, as well fresh allegations of improper conduct against president Donald Trump from one of his one time lawyers, Michael Cohen, offset by surprisingly positive economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session ahead 0.67% at 24,370.10, the S&P 500 added 0.76% to 2,635.96, and the Nasdaq 100 grew 0.75% to 6,715.45.

"With the U.S government shutdown and the U.K’s Brexit standoff ongoing, coupled with the drawn-out Sino-U.S trade situation, there are enough reasons in play for investor market caution," said Dean Popplewell, Vice President of Market Analysis at Oanda.

According to Bloomberg, an indictment in the ongoing federal investigation linked to a 2014 lawsuit alleging the theft of T-Mobile technology by its Chinese rival, Huawei, could come soon.

"It goes right to the heart of the unresolved IP issues with China. China is unlikely to shrug this off which is creating a risk-off environment," said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler, adding that signs of retaliation from China could see stocks sink further.