Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week up 229.16 points, or 3.08%, closing Friday's session at 7,663.73.

Equity view

Alternatives investment group Petershill Partners reported significant progress in its portfolio in a first-half update on Friday, achieving impressive milestones in assets under management growth. The FTSE 250 company said that during the second quarter ended 30 June, it saw a 3% increase in aggregate partner-firm assets under management, reaching $300bn.

FirstGroup said in an update on Friday that its overall trading performance for the financial year-to-date had been in line with the expectations it outlined in June. The FTSE 250 passenger transport operator, which was holding its annual general meeting, also said that as at 20 July, £70.9m of its £75m on-market share buyback programme, launched in December, had been successfully completed.

Mining giant Glencore reported a mixed performance across metals and commodities in a first-half production update on Friday, with both positive and negative trends impacting production figures. The FTSE 100 company said own-sourced copper production amounted to 488,000 tonnes, showing a 4% decline compared to the first half of 2022.

Liontrust Asset Management said that its proposed offer for Swiss rival GAM was "full and final". The UK asset manager that its offer "good and fair", taking into account the current financial run rate of losses, future contractual liabilities and the restructuring costs needed to bring GAM back into the black.

Homeware retailer Dunelm said on Thursday that full-year profit was set to be "slightly ahead" of market expectations after continued robust sales in the fourth quarter. The retailer said it continued to see good sales momentum in Q4, with sales growth of 6% to £381m. It also pointed to a strong summer sale.

Investment giant 3i Group has reported a positive start to its new financial year on Thursday, with net asset value per share rising to 1,814p on 30 June, compared to 1,745p on 31 March. The FTSE 100 firm said the total return for the three-month period ended 30 June was 4.1%.

Budget airline easyJet said on Thursday that it swung to a pre-tax profit in the third quarter amid strong passenger demand, and that it expects to post record profit for the fourth quarter. For the quarter to the end of June, the company reported headline pre-tax profit of £203m, versus a loss of £114m in the same period a year earlier, with revenue up 34% to £2.36bn.

SSE reiterated its full-year earnings guidance on Thursday, despite dry, still weather hitting renewables output. The blue chip energy group said its renewables performance in the first quarter had been lower than planned, equating to a 5% shortfall on its planned renewables output the year.

Insurance and financial services firm Aviva issued an update on Wednesday in a bid to reassure investors over the effects of the industry-wide adoption of IFRS 17 accounting standards. The FTSE 100 company said IFRS 17 would not have any impact on its strategy, capital generation, dividend guidance, or capital return outlook.

Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Energy reported a fall in second-quarter sales due to weaker commodity prices and ongoing maintenance work, but held production guidance. Revenue fell to $3.08bn for the three months to June 30, from $3.44bn a year earlier. Woodside produced 44.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in the quarter, up from 33.8 mmboe in 2022.

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto warned of a broader global economic slowdown on Wednesday, driven by China’s stumbling recovery from the Covid pandemic, as it posted a slight fall in iron ore shipments for the second quarter. The company said annual iron ore production should be at the upper end of expectations, but said prices had fallen during the quarter on worries over China's troubled property sector, depressing demand for the key commodity.

Severn Trent said in an update on Wednesday that its financial performance remained on track, meeting expectations, as it anticipated delivering a net reward of at least £50m in customer outcome delivery incentives (ODIs). The FTSE 100 water and wastewater utility said that in the period to 18 July, it had effectively managed its net energy exposure through a natural economic energy hedge.

Vodafone Group will receive an additional €500m in proceeds as part of the co-control partnership for Vantage Towers, it announced on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 telecoms giant said the consortium leading the partnership, led by Global Infrastructure Partners and KKR, had committed to the financial boost, taking Vodafone's total net proceeds to €5.4bn.

AstraZeneca and Sanofi's Beyfortus drug has been approved in the US for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) in newborns and infants, the two companies said on Tuesday. The treatment is given to those born during or entering their first RSV season, and for children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease through their second RSV season. Beyfortus will be available in the US ahead of the upcoming 2023-2024 RSV season, they added.

Just Group backed its expectations for the year on Tuesday as it reported a near doubling of its first-half retirement income sales thanks to a strong annuities market. In an update for the six months to the end of June, the company said retirement income sales rose to £1.9bn from £879m in the same period a year earlier. Defined benefit sales jumped 149% to £1.4bn and Just Group said it completed 35 transactions during the period, up from 14 a year earlier.

London-listed fintech firm Wise held annual guidance after reporting a rise in first-quarter revenue driven by higher customer numbers and interest rates. Revenue increased 29% year on year to £240m, while income grew 66% to £311m as a result of growth in active customers and higher interest income.

Trustpilot said on Monday that it has appointed Adrian Blair as its new chief executive officer. Blair has held a number of senior executive and commercial roles throughout his career. He was global chief operating officer of Just Eat from 2011-2018. As COO, with P&L responsibility for the UK and all international markets, he played a key role in the successful growth and transition of Just Eat from a loss-making start-up to a FTSE 100 company generating over £170m of EBITDA. Trustpilot said.

Tullow Oil said production from its Jubilee field following the recent start-up of the Jubilee South East (JSE) Project, off Ghana had passed 100,000 barrels per day after a second production well was brought onstream. The company on Monday added both of the JSE wells are performing in line with expectations and have increased production rates by around 50% compared to the first half of 2023. Two further wells are on track to be tied in during the remainder of the year.

Gambling firm Entain said it had bought Angstrom Sports for £81m plus contingent payments up to a maximum of £122m. US-based Angstrom is a specialist provider of next generation sports modelling, forecasting and data analytics, Entain added on Monday.

Diversified Energy said it had sold undeveloped acreage within its central region for around $16m. The Assets include about 22,000 acres in Oklahoma.

Economic news

UK retail sales pushed higher last week, industry data showed on Friday, despite the weather turning less summery. According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like sales rose 2.72% year-on-year in the week ending 16 July.

Public sector borrowing unexpectedly fell in June, official data showed on Friday, although it remains at record levels. According to the Office for National Statistics, public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks (PSNB ex) was £18.5bn in June, down £0.4bn on the same month a year previously.

UK retail sales pushed higher last month, official data showed on Friday, beating expectations. According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes were estimated to have risen by 0.7% month-to-month in June. That follows a 0.1% in increase in May, revised down from an initial estimate for a 0.3% rise.

Consumer confidence slumped in July, a closely-watched survey showed on Friday, as higher interest rates and prices hit home. The latest Consumer Confidence Index from GfK came in at -30 in July, a six point decline on June.

Analysts at JPMorgan sounded a 'bullish' note on the outlook for UK property stocks. In a research note written the day before, but published on Thursday, they noted similarities with the 1990s and highlighted two conditions which in their opinion "seemingly" catalysed listed UK property stocks' comeback in 1992.

The UK competition watchdog has told supermarkets to make their pricing clearer, to help struggling customers better find the best deals. The Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday that it had not found any evidence that high food price inflation was being driven by weak competition among retailers.

Growth in UK house prices slowed in May, according to data released on Wednesday. The official house price index from the Office for National Statistics showed that house price rose by 1.9% in the 12 months to May, down from a revised 3.2% growth in April.

UK consumer price inflation fell more than expected in June, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics, easing pressure on the Bank of England to keep hiking rates. CPI fell to 7.9% in the year to June from 8.7% in May. This was the lowest reading since March 2022 and below analysts’ expectations of 8.2%, but remains well above the Bank's 2% target.

UK grocery price inflation eased again in the four weeks to 9 July, at the steepest rate since the March peak. According to figures released on Tuesday by Kantar, grocery price inflation declined to 14.9% from 16.5%. This marked the fourth consecutive drop and is down from a peak of 17.5% in March.

House prices ticked lower in July, a closely-watched industry survey showed on Monday, as higher borrowing costs hit home. According to the latest Rightmove house price index, house prices dipped 0.2% in July, compared to 0.0% growth in June.

International events

The US jobs market appeared to tighten a bit over the preceding week, hitting a two-month low in the process. According to the Department of Labor, unemployment claims for the week ending on 15 July fell by 9,000 to reach 228,000.

The People's Bank of China maintained its benchmark lending rates on Thursday, consistent with expectations and its recent decision to hold policy rates earlier in the month. In its announcement, the central bank said it was holding the one-year loan prime rate at 3.55%, while the five-year loan prime rate remained at 4.2%.

Eurozone annual inflation was confirmed at 5.5% in June from 6.1% in May, final official data from Eurostat showed Wednesday. The rate is also significantly lower than the 8.6% recorded in June 2022. European Union annual inflation was 6.4% in June 2023, down from 7.1% in May and lower than 9.6% a year earlier.

Retail sales volumes in the U.S. grew by less than expected last month. According to the Department of Commerce, sales increased at a month-on-month clip of 0.2% (consensus: 0.5%) to reach $689.5bn.

Euro area inflation may come down faster than the European Central Bank's predictions, the head of Italy's monetary authority. In an interview with Bloomberg at the G-20 finance ministers' meeting in India, Ignazio Visco, highlighted that declines in energy prices ought to make themselves felt more in core inflation over coming months and certainly by the end of 2023.

Equity strategists at J.P. Morgan reiterated their 'underweight' stance towards Eurozone equities and sounded a "cautious" note on the outlook for China, a key driver of activity in the region. In particular, they judged that the 'Growth-Policy' trade-off in the region was likely to worsen across the back half of 2023.

Factory sector activity in the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York softened a tad less than expected in July. The so-called 'Empire State' index slipped from a reading of 6.6 in June to 1.1.

Microsoft will face an official antitrust investigation by the European Union (EU) next week, it was reported on Monday, making for the software giant's first such probe in Brussels in 15 years. According to the Financial Times, the investigation stemmed from allegations that Microsoft was unfairly tying its videoconferencing app Teams with its Office software.

China's second-quarter gross domestic product grew by 6.3% year on year, missing expectations, according to official data published on Monday. The print for the second quarter marked a 0.8% pace of growth from the first quarter and was well behind the 7.3% increase in second quarter GDP forecast by analysts.

Reporting by staff and contributors for Sharecast.com.