It seems as though little will derail investors hopes for further stimulus to prop up markets at the moment. Despite a paucity of positive economic data - in fact the UK today announced it has added 730,000 to the ranks of the unemployed since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, shares across London's main indices are in positive territory with the blue chip FTSE100 up by almost 1.7 per cent.
London shares were led higher by a solid showing overnight in the US and through Asia, where technology stocks steadied after some hefty selling of late. In the US there is hope that lawmakers will coalesce around a package of support measures to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus shut downs and that this stimulus, when it comes, will be like another fix for the markets.
UK Company Announcements
| Domino's Pizza (DOM) | The deferred final dividend for 2019 is to be paid out in September, after the group reported a 3.2 per cent rise in first-half like-for-like delivery sales. Underlying UK & Ireland operating profits fell by 5.6 per cent because of higher Covid-19 related costs. |
| Bellway (BWY) | Completions fell by almost a third during the year to the end of July due to lockdown, although private reservations have increased by 140 per cent in July. Management said it was keen to resume dividend payments as soon as there was more certainty regarding the market outlook. It has also been focusing on lower priced land opportunities ahead of the regional price caps being introduced for the help-to-buy scheme in April. |
| Derwent London (DLN) | A revaluation deficit of £65.7m meant the office landlord reported a £14m pre-tax loss during the first half of the year. The group received 78 per cent of rent due in respect of the third quarter, with another 6 per cent due later in the quarter and 9 per cent under agreed deferrals. |
| Plus500 (PLUS) | Extraordinary market volatility during the second quarter led to a record level of customer income over the first six months of the year, more than double the same time the prior year. The spread-betting specialist raised the interim dividend to 95.3c a share and annouced plans to buy back a $38.9m in shares. |
| SDL (SDL) | The language translation group’s shares were up as much as 8 per cent in morning trading, following resilient trading in the first half. Operating profit nudged up 3 per cent in the six months ended in June. |
| InterContinental Hotels (IHG) | The hotel group slumped into a $275m interm pre-tax loss while turnover halved to $488m as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Only 5 per cent of InterContinental's estate was closed at the end of July, however. |
| Gamesys (GYS) | Adjusted cash profits climbed up by three quarters to £95m in the first half, as the gambling operator’s average active players per month grew 14 per cent year-on-year. |
| Galliford Try (GFRD) | The shares were up 4 per cent in early trading after the group announced it has signed a £105m contract to develop a new 665-home build-to-rent residential scheme in Leeds. |
| Zotefoams (ZTF) | The materials business's half-year pre-tax profits nearly halved to £2.7m, with Zotefoams' polyolefin foams particularly bearing the brunt of recent market weakness with a 23 per cent fall in turnover. |
Oil prices have continued to tick upwards, helping the likes of BP and Royal Dutch Shell to power the FTSE100 rise this morning. The chart below illustrates how European oil shares have picked up ahead of the wider market of late, which is good news for investors in FTSE100 trackers given the weight of oil companies in the index. Meanwhile gold's self-fulfilling surge above $2,000 a troy ounce has petered out with the yellow metal dipping below the $2k mark overnight.
