BAT's Durante to retire in April, Diageo reports good start to financial year
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open seven points higher on Thursday, having closed up 0.42% at 7,331.12 on Wednesday.
Stocks to watch
British American Tobacco’s chief executive Nicandro Durante will retire next April after eight years in charge of the cigarette company. BAT said it had identified a lead candidate to replace Durante and would announce his successor in due course.
Inmarsat announced on Thursday that itself and Panasonic Avionics Corporation have agreed a strategic collaboration, for an initial 10-year period, that would enable them to combine their “highly complementary” services to offer broadband in-flight connectivity paired with high-value solutions and services to customers in the commercial aviation industry worldwide. The FTSE 250 company said that under the terms of the agreement, Inmarsat would become Panasonic's exclusive provider of Ka-band IFC for commercial aviation, with Panasonic now able to offer Inmarsat's high-speed broadband connectivity service ‘GX Aviation’.
Diageo said its financial year has "started well", though it has been buffeted in recent weeks by increased emerging market foreign exchange volatility. The drinks titan said that despite "increased volatility in some markets", it still expects organic net sales growth broadly in line with last year.
Newspaper round-up
European leaders were divided last night before a critical meeting that will determine the future of Theresa May’s Brexit plans. Some EU countries are pressing for the leaders to engage with British proposals, which they see as a “positive” step towards reaching a deal, [but are] being challenged by the European Commission and the leaders of France and Germany, who are said to be unwilling to make the concessions demanded by the British. - The Times
An explosive internal memo suggesting Theresa May will be forced to “stand down soon after March 2019” and detailing the pros and cons of her potential successors has been leaked. The excruciating dossier is being widely circulated among Tory MPs analysing the leadership prospects of her cabinet colleagues and other contenders including leading Brexiteers Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. - Telegraph
Gambling companies will be banned from advertising on television during live sports if Labour wins the next general election, as part of a crackdown designed to tackle an addiction “epidemic”. Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, accused the government of letting the UK’s estimated 430,000 problem gamblers down, as he announced a number of policies that would tighten up betting regulations. - Guardian
US close
Wall Street trading ended on a mixed note on Wednesday, as the Dow moved closer to an all-time high, despite trade tensions between the US and China that were still weighing heavily on sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session ahead 0.61% at 26,405.76 and the S&P 500 added 0.13% to 2,907.95, while the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.05% to 7,490.32.
Earlier, the Dow had jumped more than 100 points at the opening bell, as the broader market appeared to be shaking-off worries about the Sino-US trade conflict to an extent.
The blue-chip benchmark was less than 1% short of its all-time high of 26,616.71.
Market watchers were already looking ahead to Thursday’s initial jobless claims report, with Pantheon Macroeconomics chief economist Ian Shepherdson saying it was still too early for Hurricane Florence to be having much of effect on the data.
“Jobless claims likely will rise sharply, though briefly, in the wake of Hurricane Florence, but we don't expect to see the hit in [Thursday’s] report,” Shepherdson said.