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London midday: Travel and Leisure stocks punished as coronavirus jumps continents
Travel-related stocks dragged London's top indices lower as the epicentre of new Chinese coronavirus cases shifted to the Continent.
US durable goods orders for January come in stronger than expected
Data on orders in the States for goods made to last more than three years in January came in much stronger than expected, as those for civilian aircraft more than trebled.
William Hill's Mr Green fined £3m for consumer safety failures
Wiliam Hill's Mr Green online casino business has been fined £3m for slack procedures to prevent consumer harm and money laundering.
Microsoft lowers Q3 guidance as coronavirus interrupts supply chain
Tech giant Microsoft warned late on Wednesday that it was set to fall short of guidance on some of its third-quarter figures as a result of issues stemming from the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
US jobless claims edge slightly higher
Jobless claims in the US edged slightly higher last week.
FTSE 250 movers: Hunting heads higher; Finablr slumps
London’s FTSE 250 was down 3. 4% at 19,920. 69 in afternoon trade on Thursday as coronavirus fears continued to dent sentiment.
FTSE 100 movers: WPP slumps on results; Hikma bucks trend
London’s FTSE 100 was down 2. 8% at 6,843. 65 in afternoon trade on Thursday amid a deluge of corporate news, as markets were gripped by worries about the coronavirus.
FinnCap expects to 'broadly breakeven' in H2
Investment bank Finncap said on Thursday that it expects to "broadly breakeven" in the second half of 2020 and turn a profit for the year as a whole.
UBS cuts Burberry to 'sell' on turnaround doubts and coronavirus
Burberry is one of the luxury brands most at risk from the coronavirus outbreak, UBS said as it downgraded the company to 'sell' and slashed its target price by more than a third.
Europe midday: Stocks slip further as euro strengthens
Europe's main stockmarkets were lower still come midday as the euro snapped higher even as traders moved to price-in the immediate disruption to business, particularly in the Travel & Leisure space, as the epicentre of the coronavirus jumped continents.
Thursday broker round-up
Restaurant Group: RBC Capital Markets downgrades to sector performer with a target price of 170p.
Appeal court deems Heathrow's third runway illegal
Heathrow’s third runway has been ruled illegal by the court of appeal as it found that the plans did not consider the UK government’s climate change commitments.
UK economic confidence improves in February
UK economic confidence continued to improve in February as business and consumer spirits rose amid less short-term political turmoil, a European Commission survey showed.
Campaigners protest against World Bank's $55m pledge to fossil fuel industry
The World Bank has been criticised for investing $55m in a fossil fuel project that involves oil extraction in Guyana after pledging to stop direct funding of the contaminating industry.
PPHE Hotel sees 'good growth' in both revenue and profits
Hospitality real estate group PPHE Hotel Group outlined some good growth in revenue and profits on Thursday after completing its £100m multi-year investment programme.
Asia report: Markets mixed as coronavirus focus moves beyond China
Markets in Asia finished in a mixed state on Thursday, with stocks in Japan leading the region’s losses, as investors continued to digest the latest developments in the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
Genus sees strong revenue growth in first half
Animal genetics company Genus reported “strong” revenue growth of 13% in actual and constant currency in its half-year results on Thursday, to £270. 7m.
Drax to end commercial coal generation in 2021
Drax will end commercial coal generation in 2021 with the loss of up to 230 jobs, the power generation company said.
National Express beats expectations with record FY revenues, profits
Coach operator National Express reported a record year in terms of both revenues and profits in 2019, beating its own expectations.
Europe open: Travel & Leisure stocks hammered as coronavirus spreads
Another wave of selling swept over the main stockmarkets in Europe following the previous day's lull, with traders apparently moving to price-in the immediate disruption to business as the epicentre of the coronavirus jumped continents, from Asia.