Compass points further north, Cranswick contracts

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to fall 19 points on Thursday, having finished slightly lower at 7,173.09 a day earlier.

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Smith & Nephew launched five new strategic "imperatives" for the medium-term after it enjoyed a solid finish to 2018. Thanks to underlying fourth-quarter sales growth of 3%, revenue for the calendar year grew 2% to $4.9bn and trading profit by 7% to $1.1bn.

Catering company Compass said organic revenue for the three months to 31 December 2018 grew by 6.9% driven by strong levels of new business wins, continued good retention rates and bolstered by the impact of the new UK defence contracts and a positive sporting events calendar. The company added that it had made “an excellent start to the year” and now expected to be slightly above the middle of its target 4-6% organic growth range for the full year, with “modest margin progression”.

Food producer Cranswick reported revenue for the quarter was 2% lower compared to the equivalent 13-week period in the previous financial year. Strong growth in poultry and continental products was offset by lower sales from other, pork-related, categories.

Newspaper round-up

Housebuilding declined sharply in London and the Midlands last year as political and economic uncertainty around the shape of Brexit hit the housing market, according to industry figures. The number of new homes in London registered by housebuilders with the National House Building Council (NHBC) in 2018 fell 10% from the previous year to 16,069, the biggest annual drop since 2016. In the East Midlands and West Midlands, registrations were also down 10%, to 13,447 and 13,087 respectively following two strong years. – Guardian

The water and sewerage bills in England and Wales are to rise by 2% from April, adding £8 to the average annual cost for each household. The increase was confirmed by the industry body Water UK on Wednesday and means the average water and sewerage bill will be £415. Thames Water was last month given a dressing down by regulator Ofwat for not doing enough to keep future bills affordable and for its poor performance on leaks. Britain’s biggest water company had appeared to indicate it was planning significant future hikes. – Guardian

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been given the go-ahead by investors to buy back up to £1.5bn of shares from the Government. The taxpayer-controlled lender, rescued by a £45bn bailout at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, gained the backing of 98.7pc of shareholders at a general meeting in Edinburgh on Wednesday. – Telegraph

US close

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday as Donald Trump's State of the Union address overnight snapped a 5-day winning streak for the S&P 500 and left investors wanting more.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.08% weaker at 25,390.30, while the S&P 500 closed 0.22% lower at 2,731.61 and the Nasdaq lost 0.36% at 7,375.28.

The Dow closed 21 points lower as investors mulled over Trump's speech on Tuesday, which offered very little information regarding his economic agenda and Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said "wasn't much of a market mover, more a reminder of the president's priorities and determination to get various initiatives over the line".