CRH lifts first-half earnings guidance, Sainsbury's and Home Retail deal cleared by CMA

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 17.5 points lower on Friday, after closing down 0.43% at 6,699.89 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

CRH lifted its earnings estimate on Friday, as a result of exceptional trading in the second quarter. The FTSE 100 firm had indicated on 27 April that total group EBITDA for the first half of 2016 was expected to be close to €1bn. “Based on the trading performance in the latter part of Q2, we now expect total Group EBITDA for the first half of 2016 to be approximately €1.1bn,” CRH said in a short update. The company’s full interim report for the first six months of 2016 is scheduled for release on 25 August.

Vodafone said revenue fell 4.5% to €13.37bn in the first quarter including a 5.3 percentage point negative impact from foreign exchange rate movements UK service revenue declined 3.2%, reflecting the impact of operational challenges following a billing system migration, lower out of bundle revenues and the benefit of a large enterprise contract win in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year. Mobile service revenue fell 3.6% with consumer contract in-bundle revenue growth being more than offset by a decline in out of bundle usage compared to the prior year and the impact of expanding roaming propositions in enterprise mobile.

The combination of Sainsbury's and Argos owner Home Retail Group was a step closer on Friday, with the Competition and Markets Authority dropping its investigation and allowing the acquisition by the supermarket to proceed. On 1 April, the boards of Sainsbury's and Home Retail Group announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash and share offer to be made by Sainsbury's for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Home Retail Group. Home Retail Group then published the scheme document in connection with the acquisition on 5 July, and Sainsbury's published the prospectus in relation to the New Sainsbury's Shares to be issued in connection with the acquisition. "The boards of Sainsbury's and Home Retail Group plc welcome today's announcement by the CMA that it has unconditionally cleared the acquisition following its Phase 1 investigation," both companies said on Friday in a joint statement.

Newspaper round-up

The former HSBC currency trader at the heart of a US fraud investigation spent more than two years on a panel that advised the Bank of England, it has emerged, as the Department of Justice widens its probe to examine more currency trades. Stuart Scott, who left HSBC in late 2014, has “strongly denied” allegations that he ramped up the price of the pound ahead of a $3.5bn (£2.7bn) currency deal for the oil firm Cairn. A warrant was out for the British trader’s arrest yesterday after his former colleague Mark Johnson, HSBC’s global head of foreign exchange, was freed on $1m bail in New York. – Telegraph

MPs have called for Sports Direct to review its corporate governance structure after concluding that founder Mike Ashley may have turned a blind eye to the “appalling” workplace conditions at the retailer. The Business, Innovation and Skills committee has published a 37-page report following an inquiry into the sportswear retailer’s treatment of employees at its shops and warehouses. – Telegraph

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, is to use the first gathering of country’s finance ministers and central bank governors since the EU referendum to showcase Britain’s attractions as a place to invest in a post-EU referendum world. G20 policymakers from leading market economies will meet in Chengdu, central China, this weekend and their talks are expected to be dominated by the outcome of the poll on 23 June which favoured ending the UK’s 43-year membership of the EU. – Guardian

Smartphone-addicted Britons are embracing mobile banking, with payments via apps rocketing 54% in 2015 and reaching a value of £347m. The average customer of certain UK banks views their finances on their phone more than once a day – and much of this balance checking and payment making is done while people watch TV, according to a report by the British Bankers’ Association. – Guardian

Roger Ailes, the executive who created Fox News and built it into America’s top ranked cable news channel, resigned yesterday amid charges of sexual harassment. Rupert Murdoch, the executive co-chairman of Fox’s parent company 21st Century Fox, will assume the role of chairman and acting chief executive of Fox News and Fox Business Network. – The Times

EDF will make its long-delayed final investment decision on whether to build two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset next week, the company has announced. The French utility said on Thursday night it would hold a board meeting next Thursday at which it would take the final decision, which was originally expected early in the year. – The Times

US close

Stocks in the US finished Thursday lower, with the Dow breaking its nine-day winning streak, as oil prices fell and the market looked towards the Federal Reserve meeting next week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.42% to 18,517.23, the S&P 500 fell 0.36% to 2,165.17, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.31% to 5,073.90.

On the Dow, Goldman Sachs led the index lower while McDonald’s was the biggest winner of the day.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets next week, with recent Fed funds futures showing a slight increase in the expectation for a rate hike among investors, according to CME FedWatch.