Anglo American agrees sale of Australian coal mines, Kingfisher nudges down guidance midpoint

Stocks to watch

Anglo American has agreed to sell its portfolio of steelmaking coal mines that it operates in Australia to Peabody Energy for $3.77bn in cash as part of its pivot to be a copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients business. The deal follows the mining giant’s sale of its interest in the Jellinbah coal mine in Queensland, Australia for $1.1bn earlier this month.

AstraZeneca announced on Monday that a phase three trial showed that ‘Truqap’, or capivasertib, combined with abiraterone and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), significantly improved radiographic progression-free survival in patients with PTEN-deficient metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant said it was the first AKT inhibitor combination to show clinical benefit in the specific cancer subtype. While overall survival data remained immature, it said early results suggested a positive trend, with the trial continuing to assess that key secondary endpoint.

B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher has nudged down the midpoint of its full-year profit guidance after a mixed third quarter, in which group sales fell 0.6%. The company said 2024 adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to come in between £510m and £540m, compared with previous forecast range of £510m to £550m.

Newspaper round-up

Millions of tourists to the UK could soon be asked to pay a local visitor levy as cash-strapped councils try to raise money to fund services. Nearly half of Scotland’s local councils are considering a mandatory levy on overnight stays, known as a tourist tax, to help cope with a surge in visitors that has overwhelmed places such as Skye, the Callanish stones on Lewis and Orkney’s neolithic sites. – Guardian

Thousands of Amazon workers are expected to protest or strike in more than 20 countries during Black Friday to press for better workers’ rights and climate action from the US retailer. Workers and representatives from unions and workers’ groups intend to join protests against the Seattle-based company’s practices between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (29 November and 2 December), one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. – Guardian

Angela Rayner must bring planning officers out of retirement in order to achieve a government pledge to build 1.5m homes, the estate agent Savills has said. The Housing Secretary’s plans to bring in an additional 300 planning officers will be far short of the “thousands” needed if it wants to follow through on its manifesto pledge to build 1.5m homes over the next five years, the head of planning at Savills has said. – Telegraph

The Observer made a profit of more than £3m last year, according to internal figures which raise questions over claims it must be offloaded to protect The Guardian. A report seen by The Telegraph shows that the Sunday title made a profit of £3.4m in the year to the end of March, outstripping forecasts by almost £300,000. – Telegraph

The City regulator is opaque and unaccountable and “widely seen as incompetent”, according to a report due to be revealed in parliament on Tuesday. A study of views on the Financial Conduct Authority, which includes the opinions of some current and former staff, is due to report claims that the organisation has a “defective culture”, is too close to those it regulates and is “slow to act and even slower to admit it has got things wrong”. – The Times

US close

US stocks finished higher on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1% to reach a new record closing high as incoming economic data lifted market sentiment.

With just two of its 30 constituents in the red, the Dow rose for the third straight session, gaining 426.16 points to settle at 44,296.51, surpassing a previous peak set on 11 November.

The S&P 500 meanwhile finished higher for the fifth consecutive day, rising 0.4% to 5,969.34, while the Nasdaq edged 0.2% higher to 19,003.65.

On the macro front, a preliminary reading of S&P Global's November manufacturing PMI increased to 48.8 points in November, up from 48.5 in October, while the services PMI increased more than expected to 57 points, up from 55 a month earlier.

As a result, S&P's composite PMI rose to 55.3, up from 54.1, indicating the strongest rate of growth since April 2022.