Wizz passenger numbers rise in May, 888 Holdings on track for full year
London open
The FTSE 100 was called to open 20 points lower at 7,164.
Stocks to watch
Low cost airline Wizz reported a 22.4% year on year rise in passengers for May as it continued to expand its network into Eastern Europe.
The carrier booked 3.47m passengers, compared with 2.83m in May 2018. The load factor rose 2 percentage points to 93.9%.
Wizz said it had opened up nine new routes, with seven to Poland and two to Ukraine as well as establishing its newest Polish base in Krakow with three A320 aircraft to be deployed in summer 2019.
888 Holdings said that increased marketing investment and the release of the its Orbit Casino platform have driven customer acquisition up by 20% and given rise to a 6% increase in like-for-like group revenues between the beginning of the calendar year and 18 May.
The online gambling company said it remains on track to meet full-year expectations as its "strong momentum" has been underpinned by growth from the sport and casino segments.
Newspaper round-up
Britain’s retailers are warning of a fresh wave of job losses and store closures after its health check of consumer spending showed the biggest drop in almost a quarter of a century last month. Blaming the political uncertainty that also led to a contraction in manufacturing, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales were down 2.7% – the weakest performance since it began its monthly survey in 1995. – Guardian
The renowned fund manager Neil Woodford has blocked investors from pulling cash from his flagship fund after becoming overwhelmed by customer withdrawals following a series of bad market bets. A statement on the investment manager’s website said dealings in Woodford’s equity income fund were suspended after an “increased level of redemptions”. It said the move intended to protect investors and give Woodford time to sell off investments, including in private companies. - Guardian
Analysts have described Tesla as “structurally unprofitable” as Elon Musk’s electric car company battles with a slowing in demand and increased competition. Analyst firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co said that Tesla faced high costs, a smaller market for its models than expected and technology that is no longer unique with Mercedes-Benz and BMW set to widen their own electric car offering. – Telegraph
Deutsche Bank must stop "tinkering" with its restructuring plans and decide what businesses it will close, JP Morgan warned as shares in Germany's biggest bank fell to a new record low on Monday. The bank, which has more than 90,000 staff and is one of the City's biggest employers, told weary investors last month that it would make "tough cutbacks" in its investment bank after deciding to walk away from merger talks with rival Commerzbank. – Telegraph
US close
Wall Street stocks kicked off June in much the same fashion they wrapped up May - with losses – with investors still fretting on multiple fronts as a result of the US administration's trade offensive, a new Justice Department antitrust probe and the deepening inversion of the Treasury yield curve.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average did manage to eke out a small 0.02% gain to 24,819.78, but the S&P 500 was down 0.28% at 2,744.29 and the Nasdaq, battered by a tech rout earlier in the session, closed 1.61% weaker at 7,333.02.