(Alliance News) – Stock prices in London were higher at midday on Thursday, remaining supported by Eurozone data ahead of the European Central Bank’s next interest rate call.
The FTSE 100 index was up 26.95 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 8,355.94. The FTSE 250 was up 106.07 points, or 0.5%, at 21,085.57, and the AIM All-Share was up 3.50 points, or 0.5%, at 742.93 .
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 837.00, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 18,650.56, and the Cboe Small Companies was slightly lower at 17,074.75.
“There has been enough enthusiasm for shares in industries, energy producers and financial companies to prevent the FTSE 100 from reversing course despite China’s latest disappointment and the collapse in the group’s profits. Mondi packaging,” said Russ Mold of AJ Bell.
“Investors have been unimpressed with China’s plans to improve its housing market, including a promise to help builders access financing to complete projects and prevent the country from being flooded with homes and of half-built office buildings. Beijing initially gave the impression that it would do everything in its power to accelerate economic growth in China, but markets are starting to have doubts. Investors want proof of. the effectiveness of its recovery measures and this could be far from being the case.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.8%.
The euro zone’s harmonized consumer price index rose 1.7% in September from a year earlier, a slowdown from the 2.2% annual rise recorded in August. The final inflation rate is slightly lower than the flash estimate of 1.8% published by Eurostat on October 1.
This data is released hours before the European Central Bank announces its next interest rate decision.
The ECB is widely expected to follow the September cut with a further 25 basis point reduction in the deposit rate, to be announced at 1415 CET, with a press conference with President Christine Lagarde shortly after.
“Traders see a 97.7% chance that the European Central Bank will cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point today, which would make it the third reduction this year, as its focus shifts moves from controlling inflation to stimulating the economy Economic data from the region has been weak of late, meaning the central bank needs to reduce the cost of borrowing to encourage businesses and investors. consumers to spend. A rate cut today may not be an isolated event, as it may take many more cuts to regain positive momentum in the economy,” added AJ Bell’s Mr Mould.
Meanwhile, the euro zone’s international trade surplus contracted to 4.6 billion euros in August, from 4.8 billion euros a year ago, and was significantly lower than 19, 7 billion euros for the month of July.
The monthly reduction is mainly due to the decrease in the surplus for machinery and vehicles, which fell from 17.7 billion euros in July to 10.0 billion euros in August. In addition, the balance of other manufactured products fell from more than 100 million euros in July to minus 3.9 billion euros in August.
The pound was quoted at $1.3003 at midday on Thursday in London, down from $1.3006 at the close of trading on Wednesday.
Private sector landlords in the UK have called on Rachel Reeves to give them new tax breaks to keep rents low and boost housing supply.
In a letter to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget, the representative bodies said their members were facing “uncertainty on a number of fronts” and needed stability and clarity to help address the “serious housing shortage” which has left tenants “in difficulty”.
Analysis by Rightmove has shown that average advertised rents have hit a record high as landlords sell up, with 18% of homes for sale previously available to rent between July and August.
The letter signed by the National Residential Landlords Association, Propertymark, Goodlord and the Large Agents Representation Group urges the government to reconsider how the sector is taxed to find a solution.
The euro settled at USD 1.0862, down from USD 1.0874.
Against the yen, the dollar traded at 149.60 yen, down from 149.65 yen.
Japanese exports unexpectedly declined for the first time in 10 months as weaker global demand and a stronger yen hit the country’s manufacturers in September.
Japanese exports rose 7.2% to JPY 9,038 billion in September from JPY 8,433 billion in August, but were 1.7% lower than September 2023’s JPY 9,199 billion.
Japan’s imports increased 2.1% to 9,332 trillion JPY in September from 9,137 trillion JPY in August, and were 2.1% higher than 9,138 trillion JPY in September 2023.
The country’s trade surplus fell to JPY 294.34 billion, or about USD 1.97 billion, in September from JPY 703.20 billion in August, but was up from JPY 60.56 billion in September 2023. .
In September, the yen traded at its highest levels against the dollar so far this year, briefly reaching 140.8 yen. It weakened in October after new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba questioned the need for further interest rate increases by the Bank of Japan.
In the FTSE 100, Mondi fell 6.5%.
For the three months ending September 30, the company reported underlying earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of €233 million, down from €351 million in the previous quarter.
Mondi expected this result mainly due to more planned maintenance outages and a loss of fair value in the forestry sector. These elements add up to lower seasonal demand and higher input costs.
Looking to the future, Andrew King, Managing Director, said: “We are progressing well towards completing the paper machine investments at Steti and Duino, both of which are expected to start as planned. Overall, our investments in organic growth are expected to make a significant contribution to Ebitda from 2025.”
Elsewhere, BHP Group lost 2.8%.
It posted disappointing production for the first three months of its financial year on a quarterly basis, but said annual performance was strong across most of its operations.
The Melbourne-based diversified mining company also said it was on track to meet its production targets for the 2025 financial year.
On an annual basis, copper production increased by 4.2% to 476,000 tonnes in the first quarter ended September 30, compared to 457,000 tonnes in the same quarter of the previous year. However, copper production fell 5.7% from 505,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter to June 30, due to planned maintenance, lower concentrator throughput and production through leaching. at Escondida in Chile, and a planned drop in levels at Spence also in Chile.
For fiscal 2025, annual copper production is expected to be between 1.84 million tonnes and 2.04 million tonnes, up from 1.86 million tonnes the previous year.
Elsewhere, N Brown jumped 42%.
It accepted the takeover offer from Falcon 24 Topco, a company owned by Joshua Alliance. The offer values the online clothing and footwear retailer at around £191 million, with each N Brown shareholder entitled to receive 40p per share in cash.
The transaction is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2025.
Separately, Selkirk announced plans to raise £7.5 million through a placement and at the same time apply for admission of its shares to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
Assuming a fundraising of £7.5 million, Selkirk expects 20% of the shares to be held by Kelso Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Kelso Group Holdings PLC, the listed acquisition vehicle on the main market, and that 18% of the shares will be held by funds controlled by Belerion Capital Group, of which Iain McDonald, proposed executive chairman, is the manager.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.
Kamala Harris promised a clean break from Joe Biden’s presidency Wednesday during an interview with right-wing channel Fox News aimed at reaching Republican voters who are wary of Donald Trump.
The Democratic candidate clashed with Bret Baier on hot-button issues like immigration and gender transition surgery, repeatedly asking “can I finish” when the host was talking about her answers.
A key moment in the half-hour interview came when Ms. Harris was asked about comments she made last week that Republicans seized on, when she said she did not couldn’t think of anything she would have done differently than Mr. Biden during his four years in office.
“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s,” said Ms. Harris, who became her party’s nominee after an aging Mr. Biden stepped down in July.
Ms Harris said she would bring “new and fresh ideas” and added: “I represent a new generation of leaders.”
The barrel of Brent oil was quoted at 74.29 USD at midday in London on Thursday, up from 73.83 USD at the end of the day on Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at $2,687.10 an ounce, up from $2,673.31.
Thursday’s economic calendar forecasts initial jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales, among others, in the United States.
By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News senior journalist
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