They’re battening down the hatches on Wall Street as Hurricane Sandy moves towards the US East Coast. US stock exchanges confirmed that they will close floor and electronic trading platforms for safety reasons on Monday and possibly beyond. The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. and BATS also announced that stock and option trading would be closed today. Markets could remain closed on Tuesday as the hurricane is predicted to cause flooding in lower Manhattan and widespread power outages. Presumably, insurers will also be looking on nervously this week as the storm system heads for the highly populated Eastern States of the US.
This morning The Trader casts his eye on the recent performance of Germany’s DAX Index as the Nation’s 10-year bunds continued to rise ahead of inflation data that is expected to show that the rate for Europe’s economic powerhouse declined through October. The yield on Germany’s ten-year bunds fell to its lowest level in almost two weeks.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Ithaca Energy confirmed that it has been awarded two operating licences in the 27th UK Licensing Round; Block 29/5d in the vicinity of Ithaca’s existing Greater Stella Area interests and Block 15/17b in the Outer Moray Firth. Block 29/5d is a joint venture between Ithaca (Operator, 54.66 per cent), Dyas UK Ltd (25.34 per cent) and Petrofac Energy Developments UK Ltd (20 –per cent). Block 15/17b is a joint venture between Ithaca (Operator, 50 per cent) and Premier Oil (UK) Ltd (50 per cent).
KEY STORIES:
Shares in specialist video search engine, blinkx, were up by 15 per cent after it reported that the Olympics and the US elections had boosted first half revenues and performance. As a result, the company now expects pre-tax profit ahead of market expectations. Pre-tax profits, including one-off costs and amortisation for the six months ended 30 September will be around $2.4m, with revenues around $80m.
Nomura has reduced its forecasts for Anglo American due to ongoing disruptions to its South African operations, in addition to the news that the mining group’s chief executive, Cynthia Carroll, had effectively been forced to step down. However, there was better news in the offing for the mining group as the offer to facilitate a return to work to all its striking employees (by no later than 30 October) has been accepted. The offer included the reinstatement of the dismissed Rustenburg employees, and a one-off “hardship allowance” – whether this represents a long-term solution, though, is open to debate.
German media group, Bertelsmann, and the IC’s parent company, Pearson, have released updates of the planned merger of their respective publishing houses - Random House and Penguin. The merger will result in 53 per cent of the new entity – Penguin Random House – allocated to Bertelsmann, with the remaining 47 per cent controlled by Pearson. Despite tough market conditions, Pearson also confirmed that it expected to hit full-year performance estimates with sales up 5 per cent, although operating margins are under pressure.
OTHER NEWS…
To head-off more media speculation, Daily Mail & General Trust confirmed that it is in talks regarding the future of Northcliffe Media. A deal has yet to be agreed, but shareholders will be kept abreast of any news.
Identity management specialist, GB Group, has said that it will meet trading expectations for the six months to September 30. In an update ahead of the release of its interim results, GB detailed revenue growth of 44 per cent to £17.7m, compared with £12.3m last year.
Shares of in Swiss banking giant UBS AG gained 4 per cent on media reports that it is preparing to lay off 10,000 workers, and streamline non-core parts of its business.
