CLS secures two significant leases, Diageo makes strong start to year

Stocks to watch

UK commercial property company CLS Holdings said it had secured two “significant” leases at its assets in Munich and Hamburg. The City of Hamburg has taken 4,183 square metres of space at Nagelsweg 37-39 on a 15-year lease. The second lease is for 2,225 sqm on a five-year term at Lochhamer Schlag 1 in Gräfelfing, near Munich, with FUTRUE, an international healthcare group comprising 20 companies and with more than 70 drug approvals.

Diageo said it made a strong start to the financial year with sales rising in all regions despite supply chain problems. The drinks company said its North American business is performing strongly based on resilient consumer demand, robust off-trade activity and good momentum in the on-trade business. Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America are performing well though volatility is likely to continue, Diageo said. Sales at airports and other travel hubs remain disrupted.

Newspaper round-up

Airline, shipping and trucking bosses have joined union leaders in calling for governments around the world to ease coronavirus restrictions on transport workers to help avoid a Christmas supply chain crisis. Industry representatives from around the world issued a joint call on Wednesday for coordinated action from national governments to simplify border restrictions. - Guardian

The move back to the office following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions has prompted a surge in searches for homes for sale close to commuter stations, according to property website Rightmove. The property portal said there had been a big increase in searches for train stations an hour away from major cities over the summer, as people started to look for locations which allowed easy travel to work. - Guardian

Fuel is being diverted from large companies to garage forecourts in a move that threatens to disrupt online deliveries, The Telegraph has learnt. Bosses across Britain’s fuel terminals are under orders to prioritise motorists over major firms as ministers scramble to avoid angry scenes at the petrol pumps. - Telegraph

A former BBC executive who doubled the cost of playing the National Lottery has been handed a £1.8m bonus four years after quitting operator Camelot. Andy Duncan, who is also a former chief executive of Channel 4, was awarded the seven-figure sum under long-term incentive schemes. - Telegraph

Export demand for British-made cars has collapsed as UK factory output slumped again in recent weeks. Despite lockdowns ending, latest figures show that little more than 1,000 cars a day have been rolling off British production lines, when not so long ago average annual volumes were 4,500 a day. - The Times

US close

Wall Street trading finished in a mixed state on Wednesday, following the S&P 500's worst session in four months.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26% at 34,390.72 and the S&P 500 added 0.16% to 4,359.46, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.24% to 14,512.44.

The Dow closed 90.73 points higher on Wednesday, clawing back some of the losses recorded on Tuesday as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note peaked at around 1.56%.

On Wednesday, the 10-year note slipped slightly to 1.521%, while the 30-year Treasury note fell to around 2.064%.

The US debt ceiling debate in the capital also weighed on stocks, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen telling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Congress had until 18 October to hike or suspend the debt ceiling, warning that failure to do so would have dire consequences for the US economy.