Festive growth for Mitchells & Butlers, Selco helps lift Grafton Group
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Friday, after closing up 0.03% at 7,292.37 on Thursday.
Stocks to watch
Mitchells & Butlers posted a first quarter trading statement covering the 15 weeks to 7 January on Friday, with like-for-like sales growth for the year-to-date improving to 1.7%. The FTSE 250 firm said trading over the festive period was particularly strong across all brands, with like-for-like sales growth of 4.7% for the four weeks to 7 January. Total sales increased by 2.3% in the year-to-date.
Irish building materials company Grafton Group’s revenue rose as it expanded the Selco merchanting brand in the UK. Revenue surged 13.4% in the year ended 31 December to £2.51bn, compared to last year, or 10.4% in constant currency.
Newspaper round-up
British companies across all sectors will remain resilient after the country leaves the European Union, even if the UK heads for a "hard Brexit", according to Fitch. Officials at the rating agency said businesses would cope even if Britain did not secure a transition deal with Brussels and fell back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules for trade with its former EU partners. – Telegraph
Men on low pay are four times more likely to be working part-time than in the 1990s, according to a survey that illustrates the trend for low hours and wages to go together. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said 20 years ago only one in 20 men aged 25 to 55 worked part-time with low hourly wages. Today one in five of this group works part-time. – Guardian
The company which cut the weight of Toblerone bars by widening the gaps between the chocolate peaks is now slapping a 20% price rise on Cadbury’s Freddo bars. The recommended retail price of the chocolate frogs, which weigh 18g (0.6oz), is scheduled to jump from 25p to 30p in the spring. The US food manufacturing giant Mondelēz, which owns Cadbury, said it was having to make selective price increases as a “last resort”. The firm made a better than expected profit of $548m (£448m) in its last three-month financial period. – Guardian
The traditional 25-year mortgage could be on the way out, with growing numbers of first-time buyers opting for deals lasting 30 or 35 years – suggesting that many will still be burdened with home loan debt in their 60s and 70s. The Halifax said that in 2016, about 28% of all first-time buyers with a mortgage opted for a 30- to 35-year term – up sharply from 11% in 2006. - Guardian
Britain’s retail sector appears to have enjoyed a far better Christmas than expected despite fears that there would be blood on the high street from falling footfall, slower spending and rising prices in the wake of Brexit. Yesterday investors were flooded with more than a dozen festive trading statements from retailers, including some of the country’s largest FTSE 100 operators, in a deluge dubbed Super Thursday. Marks & Spencer delivered a better-than-expected Christmas update, including a long-needed increase in like-for-like sales in its clothing and homewares division. Shares closed up 1.3 per cent at 345p.- The Times
Britain will remain under the rule of European courts well into the 2020s, a key EU leader has said. Joseph Muscat, prime minister of Malta, which holds the EU presidency, said that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) would have to continue “dishing out judgments” if the UK wanted transitional arrangements to allow important sectors to adapt.- The Times
US close
US stocks dipped lower on Thursday as investors struggled with a slew of speeches by Federal Reserve officials, a scattergun speech by Donald Trump and disappointing jobs data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.32% to 19,891, while the S&P 500 gave up 0.21% to 2,270.44 and the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.29% lower to 5,547.49.
"Far from being the catalyst for the next leg higher in the ‘Trump rally’, The Donald’s press conference seems to have called a temporary top," said Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group, as the emphasis of the President-elect's surreal presser was knocked off course by an unsubstantiated intelligence dossier.
"Markets were waiting for 'pro-growth' Trump and they got 'fake news' Trump. Stocks markets were mostly lower while traditional havens like gold and the Japanese yen rose in response," Lawler added.
Michael Hewson at CMC Markets in London said the dip came as investors digested the fact that their impending President’s propensity to shoot from the hip is likely to add a healthy dash of continued political uncertainty to the markets.