Market Pulse
Directory carries Next while retail earnings slump
High street fashion stalwart Next showed sales growth across the business in its half-year results on Thursday, but earnings were still facing an uphill battle in its retail division.
EnQuest, Delek Group end talks over Kraken development
Oil producer EnQuest has ended talks with Israel’s Delek Group over a potential sale of a stake in the Kraken development in the North Sea.
Newspaper round-up: Bayer, Monsanto, Ford, Biffa
Bayer has agreed a $66bn Monsanto deal to create an agrichemicals giant. The combined business will have annual revenues of $23bn and dominate a sector which has seen a wave of consolidation as falling crop prices trigger tie-ups in the hunt for efficiencies. In the past year DuPont and Dow Chemical agreed to merge, and China National Chemical Corp inked a deal to buy Syngenta, which for years had been eyed by Monsanto. - Telegraph.
London pre-open: Stocks seen lower ahead of BoE rate announcement
Stocks in London were expected to open a little lower as investors awaited the latest monetary policy decision from the Bank of England.
US close: Wall Street ends on slightly mixed note
US stocks ended on a slightly mixed note as traders waited on policy decisions from the Bank of England, US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan over the coming week, with M&A activity and gains in Apple providing a boost.