Wood Group rolling in post-disposal cash, TI Fluid Systems sees decent growth

Stocks to watch

Wood Group said it has reaped $54m in cash proceeds from selling off stakes in non-core joint ventures in the last couple of months. The FTSE 100 company agreed the sale of stakes in a UK road-building concession, a Chinese manufacturing facility and a pair of Italian gas power plants in December and has also completed the disposal of an Italian wind farm JV that was first announced in August.

Automotive fluid technology specialist TI Fluid Systems updated the market on its trading for the year ended 31 December on Monday, saying it anticipated its results would be in line with its expectations. The FTSE 250 group said it expected to report revenue of about €3.5bn for the year. On a constant currency basis, it expected its 2018 revenue growth to exceed growth in global light vehicle production by approximately 3.0%.

Bank of Georgia Group said on Monday that, on 25 January, its banking division JSC Bank of Georgia opened a new office in the centre of Tbilisi's Freedom Square, intended to serve its wealth management clients. The FTSE 250 company said it has offered wealth management services since 2005, and currently served more than 1,500 clients from around 80 countries. Its wealth management business had representation in Tbilisi, London, Budapest, Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Limassol.

Newspaper round-up

A senior minister has praised the “extremely valuable” work of Conservative MPs demanding radical changes to the Irish backstop in the clearest indication yet that they had the tacit support of Downing Street. Tory Brexiteers are coalescing around an amendment to Theresa May’s Brexit motion tomorrow that vows to back the prime minister’s deal with the EU on condition that the insurance plan to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is replaced by “alternative arrangements”. - The Times

Britain’s biggest lender is to offer 100% mortgages to first-time buyers in a return to lending last seen before the financial crash – but only if the buyer has family that can stand behind the loan. Under the new Lloyds Bank “Lend A Hand” deal, a first-time buyer will be able to borrow up to £500,000 for a new home, without putting down a penny of deposit. - Guardian

Former BP boss Lord John Browne and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman are poised to kick-start a £23bn float of a new energy giant that will go toe-to-toe with some of the world’s top oil explorers. A merger of the oil and gas business of their holding company LetterOne with that of German industrial powerhouse BASF is in the final stages, paving the way for the enlarged operation to immediately begin preparations for a blockbuster stock market listing. - Telegraph

US close

Investors pushed US stocks higher going into the weekend amid reports that Republican leaders were trying to broker a deal with their peers from across the aisle to end the partial federal government shutdown.

And shortly before the close of trading in New York, President Donald Trump announced an agreement to reopen the government until 15 February, even as he threatened to invoke 'national emergency' powers if necessary in order to move ahead with building a border wall with Mexico.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.75% or 183.96 points higher to 24,737.20, while the S&P 500 had picked up 0.85% or 22.43 points to trade at 2,664.76 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.29% or 91.40 points firmer at 7,164.86.

Sino-US relations remained in focus as investors mulled over conflicting signals ahead of the round of trade talks with Beijing over the following week.

Overnight, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned that the US and China were "miles and miles" away from ending their trade dispute. However, he also said that there was a fair chance that China will get a trade deal. Meanwhile, Trump's economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the US president is optimistic on trade talks.