Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week up 1.92%, or 140.89 points, closing Friday’s short pre-Christmas session at 7,473.01.

Equity view

Auto distributor Inchcape said Peruvian authorities had cleared its planned £1.3bn takeover of Derco, with completion of the deal expected to take place by the end of the year. The green-light follows approval from Inchcape’s shareholders last week. Derco is the biggest automotive distributor in Latin America and runs sites in Chile, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia.

UK renewables income fund Bluefield Solar has bought a 46.4 megawatt solar portfolio from North America’s Fengate Asset Management. Bluefield said the enterprise value of the portfolio is £56m, including the economic benefit of all cash flows from May 2022. The portfolio contains £27.3m of long-term amortising debt provided by Australian private equity outfit Macquarie.

Plastic technology group Symphony Environmental warned on Friday that full-year losses looked set to widen year-on-year as multiple issues weighed on revenues throughout the period. Symphony Environmental said full-year losses were pegged to have widened to £2.5m from £1.4m, with group revenue expected to be approximately £6.5m, down from £9.2m a year earlier, following a "soft first half of the year".

Falcon Oil announced on Friday that drilling operations, including casing and cementing, at the Amungee NW-2H well had been successfully completed. The AIM-traded firm said the well was drilled to a total depth of 3,883 metres, including a 1,275-metre horizontal section within the Amungee Member B shale in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin of Australia’s Northern Territory, with its joint venture partner Tamboran.

Electronics maker discoverIE Group said it had bought US-based Magnasphere Corporation for $22m (£19.1m). Magnasphere makes magnetic sensors and switches for industrial electronic applications. DiscoverIE said the acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to group underlying earnings and underlying operating margin.

Online fast-fashion retailer Asos has appointed a senior Google executive to its board as it works to boost corporate governance. Marie Gulin-Merle was on Thursday named as a non-executive director. Currently Google's a vice-president of advertising marketing, based in New York, she also held various executive positions such as chief marketing officer of Calvin Klein, chief digital officer of PVH and group CMO of L'Oreal USA.

Life science-focussed healthcare company Syncona said on Thursday that its portfolio company Autolus Therapeutics had announced that the underwriters of its public offering of American depositary shares (ADSs), which closed on 13 December, had partially exercised their option to purchase an additional 6,927,102 ADSs. The FTSE 250 company said the option was at a price of $2.00 per ADS, resulting in additional gross proceeds to Autolus of about $13.9m (£11.5m).

Data specialist WANdisco has signed an initial agreement worth $12.7m with a “global Europe-based automotive manufacturer”, it announced on Thursday. The AIM-traded firm said the agreement was for internet-of-things (IoT) data residing in the client's data centre to be migrated to the cloud.

Full-year revenues are set to jump at Bunzl, the packaging and materials specialist said on Wednesday, bolstered by high inflation and acquisitions. Updating on full-year trading, the blue chip said group revenues were expected to increase by 17% year-on-year, or by 10% at constant exchange rates. The group adjusted operating margin was also expected to be "slightly ahead" of prior guidance.

Anglo American said rough-diamond sales by its De Beers unit were down in line with expectations in the 10th sales cycle of the year. De Beers sold $410m in diamonds in the latest cycle, compared with $454m in the ninth cycle and $336m in the 10th period of 2021.

A leading credit insurer has reportedly reduced cover to suppliers of online beauty retailer THG. According to the Guardian, Allianz Trade, one of the UK’s largest credit insurers, cut back cover for suppliers to the retailer, formerly known as the Hut Group, in recent weeks.

AstraZeneca announced two EU approvals on Wednesday, with Imfinzi approved for biliary tract cancer, and Lynparza for prostate cancer. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said Imfinzi, or durvalumab, was approved for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic biliary tract cancer (BTC), in combination with chemotherapy.

Hilton Food Group has signed a long-term collaboration in Singapore with Country Foods, the company said on Tuesday. Country Foods is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia’s SATS and one of Singapore's largest food importers, distributors and manufacturers.

Irn Bru maker AG Barr said on Tuesday that it has taken full ownership of Moma Foods, after buying the remaining 38.2% stake in the business from founder Tom Mercer and the other minority shareholders for £3.4m. The company already owned a 61.8% stake in the plant-based milk business, which it bought in December 2021. At the time, Barr entered into an option deed with Mercer and the other shareholders which gave it an agreed path to full ownership in the following three years.

Energy services company Petrofac warned on Tuesday that it expects to report a full-year underlying loss of approximately $100.0m, reflecting "adverse commercial settlements", further unrecovered cost overruns in its legacy portfolio and cost increases on the group's Thai Oil Clean Fuel joint venture. Petrofac stated it had delivered a "continued strong performance" in its asset solutions and integrated energy services units. However, challenges in its engineering and construction division offset the good performance seen elsewhere.

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has exchanged contracts to acquire a further 11% equity interest in the Merkur offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, it announced on Tuesday. It said the incremental investment was about 2% of its portfolio value.

Spire Healthcare Group is to move into occupational health after agreeing to acquire the The Doctors Clinic Group. The London-listed firm said on Monday that it had agreed to acquire the business, which provides occupational health services for corporate clients as well as operating 22 private GP clinics, for a total consideration of £12m.

Car dealership Lookers said on Monday that chairman Ian Bull will step down for personal reasons with effect from 31 December. Senior independent director Paul Van der Burgh will assume the role of interim non-executive chairman on 1 January 2023, while non-executive director Sue Farr will assume the role of interim SID.

Marine services provider James Fisher announced the sale of three businesses in two separate transactions on Monday. The London-listed firm said Mimic and the UK operations of Strainstall had been sold to the BES Group for initial cash of £13.6m.

Building materials company CRH updated the market on its share buyback programme on Monday, having completed the latest phase, returning $300m of cash to shareholders. The FTSE 100 firm said that between 20 September and 16 December, 7.7 million shares were repurchased on Euronext Dublin at an average discount of 1.2% to the volume-weighted average price over the period.

Economic news

Rail fares are set to rise by 5.9% next year in what will be the biggest increase in a decade. Usually, rail fares are pegged to July’s retail price inflation index. However, with the index hitting 12.3%, the government has intervened and abandoned the link with RPI.

The UK economy contracted more than first estimated in the three months to September as household incomes fell, according to figures released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics. GDP shrank 0.3% in the third quarter, versus an initial estimate of a 0.2% contraction. The figures showed that real household incomes fell by 0.5% during the quarter - the fourth consecutive quarter of negative growth.

House prices continued to rise in November, an industry survey showed on Thursday, but demand tumbled as nervous buyers put purchases on hold. According to the latest Zoopla house price index, house prices rose 7.2% year-on-year last month, compared to a 7.8% increase in October.

UK retail sales unexpectedly picked up in the run-up to Christmas, according to the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI’s reported sales balance rose to +11 in December from -19 the month before, coming in well above consensus expectations for a reading of -24.

Public sector borrowing more than doubled in November, official data showed on Wednesday, fuelled by government intervention on soaring energy bills and cost of living payments. According to the Office for National Statistics, public sector net borrowing excluding banks (PSNB ex) was a record £22.0bn last month, well above both November 2021's £8.1bn and consensus expectations of £13bn.

Train drivers announced another one-day strike on Tuesday, set down for 5 January, after members at 15 train operators voted for more walk-outs in a long-running dispute over pay. The ASLEF union said the strike would bring services on affected routes to a halt on the day before other rail worker members of the RMT union were planning another 48-hour strike.

House prices are likely to fall by 5% next year, Nationwide forecast on Tuesday, as borrowers face higher interest rates and a squeeze on earnings. Publishing its review of the current year alongside forecasts for 2023, the building society said the UK housing market had been "remarkably resilient" during the first three quarters of 2022. However, the government’s ill-received mini budget in September represented a "major shock", causing house prices to start to fall.

Output in the UK manufacturing sector fell in December amid rising inflation, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s Industrial Trends survey released on Monday. The CBI’s total orders balance declined to -6 from -5 in November, although this was ahead of expectations for a reading of -9.

UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt will set out a spring budget on March 15 2023, the Treasury said on Monday amid a cost-of-living crisis and rising anger over depressed public sector wages. The statement will include forecasts of the economy as it heads into a widely-forecast and long recession.

The UK is facing a lengthy recession, KPMG warned on Monday, as high inflation and rising interest rates continue to squeeze incomes throughout 2023. Publishing its latest UK Economic Outlook, the accountancy firm predicted that the recession would be "shallow but protracted", with GDP expected to shrink by 1.3% across 2023.

International events

Fresh data out of Japan showed core consumer prices rising at their fastest rate in more than 40 years on Friday, in an economy notorious for its usual lack of inflationary pressure. The country’s core consumer price index rose 3.7% year-on-year in November, making for the quickest cadence since December 1981.

Existing home sales in the US slowed more than expected last month. According to the National Association of Realtors, in seasonally adjusted terms existing home sales dropped at a month-on-month pace of 7.7% in November to reach an annual rate of 4.09m.

American consumers were unexpectedly more upbeat at the end of 2022, the results of a survey revealed. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index jumped from a reading of 101.4 for November to 108.3 in December - its highest reading since the previous April.

The shortfall on America's current account narrowed by a bit more than expected over the three months to September. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the US current account deficit shrank from -$239.3bn during the second quarter of 2022 to -$217.1bn in the third or by 9.1%.

US mortgage applications rose 0.9% in the week ended 16 December, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, cooling off from the previous week's 3.2% jump. Applications to refinance a home loan surged 6% as consumers took advantage of a fall in mortgage rates, while applications to purchase a home edged 0.1% lower.

German consumer sentiment is set to improve in January, thanks in part to the government’s energy relief packages, according to a survey released on Wednesday by market research group GfK. GfK’s forward-looking consumer sentiment index for January printed at -37.8, up from a revised -40.1 in December, coming in above consensus expectations of -38.0.

The pace of homebuilding activity held up better than expected last month, the latest government data revealed, but the finer details pointed to a further slowdown ahead. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the annual rate of housing starts slipped from 1.434m in October to 1.427m for November.

The People’s Bank of China kept its benchmark interest rates on hold for the fourth month in a row on Tuesday, in line with expectations. The Bank left the one-year loan prime rate at 3.65% and the five-year LPR at 4.3%.

The Bank of Japan shocked markets on Tuesday as it held its benchmark interest rates steady but said it was widening its yield target range. The Bank left the policy balance rate unchanged at -1.0% and the 10-year yield control target unchanged at zero. However, it also announced a surprise tweak to the yield control curve policy meaning that it will now allow the 10-year bond yield to fluctuate in a range of 0.5% above or below the target of zero, versus 0.25% previously.

Homebuilder sentiment in the US recorded its twelfth straight monthly decline at the end of 2022 on the back of higher mortgage interest rates and construction costs. The National Association of Home Builders' confidence index slipped by two points from November to reach a reading of 31 in December.

Reporting by Sharecast.com staff and contributors.