Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week up 2.49%, or 186.77 points, closing Friday’s session at 7,699.49.

Equity view

Shipping services firm Clarkson said on Friday that results for the year to the end of December were set to be ahead of current market expectations. In a very brief update, the company attributed this to strong trading throughout the final quarter, particularly from the broking division.

Oil giant Shell said on Friday that it expects to pay $2bn in windfall tax for the final quarter of 2022. The company said in a fourth-quarter update: "The Q4’22 earnings impact of recently announced additional taxes in the EU (the solidarity contribution) and the deferred tax impact from the increased UK Energy Profits Levy is expected to be around $2 billion."

UK retailer Frasers Group said its maximum exposure to German fashion house Hugo Boss was £580m after it cut its stake in the company. The company on Friday said it now holds 3.9% of Hugo Boss stock directly, down from 4.3% previously and a further 25% via the sale of put options, down from 28.5%.

Copper producer Asiamet Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese outfit BGRIMM Technology in relation to the engineering and procurement of a solvent extraction and electrowinning plant for its BKM Copper project processing facility. Asiamet Resources will work with BGRIMM and its consulting engineer NewPro Consulting & Engineering Services to provide detailed design information for all equipment packages. BGRIMM will also complete a detailed cost estimate for an engineering, procurement, and construction technical supervision scope of work for the BKM Copper Project SX-EW processing plant.

R&Q Insurance announced on Friday that, alongside Obra Capital, it has acquired a wholly-owned subsidiary of global safety equipment manufacturer MSA Safety through a newly-formed joint venture. The AIM-traded firm said the acquired subsidiary holds legacy product liability claims relating to coal dust, asbestos, silica, and other exposures.

Retailer Next lifted its full-year profit guidance on Thursday as it reported better-than-expected sales over the Christmas period, but struck a cautious note on the outlook for the year ahead. In the nine weeks to 30 December, full price sales rose 4.8% versus last year. This was £66m ahead of the company’s previous guidance of a 2% decline for the period. Next said both the online and retail segments exceeded its full price sales expectations, with retail "particularly strong".

Construction group Galliford Try said on Thursday that its building business has been appointed to a £95m contract to deliver a new custodial facility at HMP Rye Hill. The facility is a privately-run prison which is managed by Onley Prison Services and operated by G4S Care & Justice Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Greggs reported total 2022 sales rising 23% in a trading update on Thursday, to £1.51bn, as fourth quarter like-for-like sales grew 18.2%. The FTSE 250 sausage roll and pastry peddler said like-for-like sales for the full year were up 17.8%.

Capricorn Energy published an open letter to shareholders on Thursday in which it reaffirmed its support for a merger with NewMed Energy amid opposition from activist shareholder Palliser Capital. Palliser, which holds a stake of around 6.6% in Capricorn, said in October that the proposed merger with NewMed was "another one-sided deal that does not reflect the company’s intrinsic value" and urged the company "to recognise that it need not be a forced seller".

AIM-listed Checkit said on Thursday that it had secured a number of contract wins in the US and a contract renewal in the UK. "Checkit continues to grow its footprint in the US with the signing of several new contracts," it said. In particular, three contracts will generate a combined minimum value of around $1m over their three-year terms.

Contract research organisation hVIVO has signed a £5.2m contract with a global biotechnology company to test its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine candidate. hVIVO said on Wednesday that it will use its established RSV Human Challenge Study Model to test the Asia Pacific-based client's drug candidate, with a Phase 2a double-blinded placebo-controlled human challenge trial set to take place at its specialist quarantine facilities in London.

Commercial cell engineering company MaxCyte announced the signing of a strategic platform licence (SPL) with Catamaran Bio on Wednesday. The AIM-traded firm described Catamaran Bio as a biotechnology company developing novel, off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cell therapies to treat a broad range of cancers, with a primary focus on solid tumours.

Mining company Vast Resources announced on Wednesday that it achieved a 47% quarter-on-quarter overall increase in copper concentrate production in the fourth quarter, as well as a 248% increase in copper concentrate sold and a 35% increase in copper concentrate grade from its Baita Plai polymetallic mine in Romania. The AIM-traded firm said that, further to the interim production update it made in December, it had exceeded the forecasted figures announced on 16 December, and that the December shipment was delivered as stated.

United Oil & Gas announced the completion of drilling operations on the ASW-1X exploration well in the Abu Sennan licence, onshore Egypt on Wednesday. The AIM-traded firm holds a 22% non-operating interest in the licence, which is operated by Kuwait Energy Egypt (KEE).

United States-focussed Phoenix Copper reported assay results from a further two metallurgical core holes at its Empire open-pit copper project in Idaho’s Custer County on Wednesday. The AIM-traded firm said 1,077 metres of a planned 1,500-metre metallurgical core drilling programme were completed during 2022, which would provide samples and technical information for further metallurgical testing, geotechnical studies, and geological modelling.

Ferrexpo owner Kostyantin Zhevago, detained last week by French police, has resigned from the company’s board, the iron ore pellet producer and exporter said on Tuesday. In a statement, the company said it received Zhevago's formal resignation letter, effective as of 29 December 2022.

Hungary-based budget airline Wizz Air reported a 58.4% rise in passengers last month. The company carried 4,180,310 passengers in December, driven by new routes and expansions of existing services. The load factor rose to 84.5%, up 9.1 percentage points.

Essential components manufacturer Essentra said on Tuesday that chief executive Paul Forman stood down from the role on 31 December. Forman has been replaced by Scott Fawcett, who took up the role on 1 January.

Biotech company Aptamer Group warned on Tuesday that while full-year revenues may fall short of market expectations, they were still likely to come in "materially ahead" of the level achieved in the previous financial year. Aptamer stated that although revenues were generally expected to be second-half weighted, this had been exacerbated in 2022 due to "a number of factors" - including customer delays and general economic conditions.

Movie house owner Cineworld, which is in US bankruptcy protection, said it was looking for prospective buyers for the group's assets as a whole, and not separately as some media reports suggested on Tuesday morning. US-based rival AMC last month said it had held discussions with some of Cineworld's lenders to buy some of its cinemas in the US and Europe. However, on Tuesday Cineworld said that neither it nor its advisers had been party to those discussions.

Economic news

Downing Street was set to slash help for businesses against their energy bills. According to The Telegraph, the Treasury and Number 10 had agreed to abandon the price cap on gas and electricity for companies from April.

Activity in the UK construction sector fell in December at the fastest rate since May 2020, according to a survey released on Friday. The S&P Global/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ index declined to 48.8 from 50.4 in November, coming in below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the first time since last August.

UK house prices fell in December for the fourth month in a row amid rising interest rates, according to figures released on Friday by Halifax, with prices set to drop by around 8% this year. Prices declined by 1.5% on the month following a 2.4% fall in November. On the year, meanwhile, house prices rose 2% in December following a 4.6% increase the month before, with the rate of growth slowing in all nations and regions.

Retail footfall improved markedly year-on-year in 2022, according to industry data released on Friday, with shop visitors at Christmas reaching their highest levels since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to BRC-Sensormatic IQ data, total UK footfall for 2022 was 11.8% below pre-pandemic levels.

New laws aimed at castrating the ability of unions to cause widespread disruption look set to be brought forward by the government, it was revealed on Thursday. The laws would “maintain a basic function and deliver minimum safety levels”, according to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The UK government has performed yet another u-turn and formally abandoned controversial and unpopular plans to privatise the broadcaster Channel 4. Culture secretary Michelle Donelan said the channel was a “linchpin of our booming creative industries” and should not be sold off, reversing the plans of her hard-right predecessor Nadine Dorries under then prime minister Boris Johnson.

UK new car registrations fell last year amid supply chain shortages, according to figures released on Thursday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Overall registrations for 2022 declined by 2% to 1.61 million - the lowest level since 1992 - which is around 700,000 units below pre-pandemic levels. Nevertheless, the UK reclaimed its position as Europe’s second-largest market, the SMMT said.

The UK services sector remained in contraction territory at the end of last year, according to a survey released on Thursday. The S&P Global/CIPS purchasing managers’ index for the sector rose to 49.9 from 48.8 in November, coming in below the initial estimate of 50.0, which is also the level that separates contraction from expansion.

Mortgage approvals in Britain plunged much more than expected in November, according to fresh data on Wednesday, as the fallout from the ill-fated mini-budget of the short-lived Truss administration lingered. According to the Bank of England, around 46,100 mortgages were approved in the month, sliding from a revised total of 57,900 in October.

Take-home grocery sales hit £12.8bn over the four weeks ended 25 December, according to Kantar, the first time in history that sales have breached the £12.0bn mark. Sales increased 7.6% month-on-month and 9.4% year-on-year, the fastest rate recorded since February 2021, with mince pie value sales up 19% annually and Christmas pudding sales increasing 16% in value and 6% in volume.

International events

Services sector activity in the US shrank unexpectedly at the end of 2022, the results of a closely followed survey revealed. The Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index for the sector fell from 56.5 in November to 49.6 in December.

Hiring in the US was stronger than expected, rising by 223,000 and unemployment surprised to the downside too. Yet so did hourly wage growth. According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, non-farm payrolls increased by 203,000 in December.

Fresh manufacturing and retail sales data out of Germany painted a mixed picture on Friday, with factory orders plunging as retailers enjoyed a boost. According to the Destatis federal statistics office, factory orders tumbled 5.3% month-on-month in November.

Eurozone inflation fell more sharply than expected in December as energy prices retreated, according to data released on Friday by Eurostat. Consumer price inflation rose 9.2% in the year to December, down from 10.1% in November and versus expectations of 9.7%.

Russia President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral 36-hour ceasefire around the 7 January Orthodox Christian celebrations which was quickly rejected by authorities in Kyiv. The decision by Moscow followed a call to that effect from the patriarch of the Russian orthodox church and from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Shares in Bed Bath & Beyond tanked on Thursday after the retailer said it was considering bankruptcy. The company said that while it continues to pursue actions to improve its cash position and mitigate any potential liquidity shortfall, there is "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern.

US job cut announcements fell at the end of 2022 closing off a year that saw the second-lowest total tally since 1993, the results of a closely followed survey showed. According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, lay off announcements dropped by 43% month-on-month in December to reach 43,651.

Private sector employment in the US rose more than expected in December, according to the latest data from ADP. Employment increased by 235,000 from November, versus expectations for a 150,000 jump. The figures also showed that annual pay was up 7.3% on the year.

Unemployment claims were stronger than expected during the final week of 2022, reflecting lower layoffs and only slightly decreased hiring over holidays. According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 204,000 over the week ending on 31 December.

The eurozone’s construction sector is suffering a “sustained contraction”, according to the latest PMI survey by S&P Global. December readout showed the total activity index fell to 42.6, down from 43.6 in November and the eighth consecutive fall. Figures below 50 represent a decline.

Reporting by Sharecast.com staff and contributors.