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Thursday preview: US Q4 GDP data, jobless claims figures in focus
All eyes on Thursday would be on a slew of economic data in the US with a preliminary reading for fourth quarter gross domestic product figuring prominently.
Europe close: Stocks drift lower ahead of key data releases
European shares slipped on Wednesday, despite data showing German business sentiment had improved, weighed down by soft corporate outlooks across the Pond even as investors waited on key data releases in the US scheduled for over the next two sessions.
Director dealings: Burberry director picks up shares at all-time highs
Burberry non-executive director picked up some shares in the luxury fashion retailer as they moved past their all-time highs.
London close: Stocks drift lower as investors digest corporate updates
London stocks drifted lower on Wednesday, but airlines got a boost after an upbeat update from easyJet.
FTSE 100 movers: Aviva gains; Experian hit by downgrade
London’s FTSE 100 was down 0. 4% at 7,727. 17 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
FTSE 250 movers: Ascential ascends, Wetherspoon goes flat
FTSE 250: 19,774. 10, -0. 41% at 1455 GMT.
US open: Wall Street slips on soft company outlooks
Trading on Wall Street got off to a soft start with investors honing on weaker than expected outlooks from GE, Microsoft and Texas Instruments and a large earnings miss out of Boeing.
Tullow Oil beats free cash flow expectations, faces Ghana tax bill
Tullow Oil said it expected to report better-than-expected free cash flow of $267m, up from $245m a year earlier and said it was facing a large tax bill on its assets in Ghana as tax incentives wind down.
Broker tips: Experian, Darktrace, Direct Line
Credit Suisse downgraded Experian on Wednesday to ‘neutral’ from ‘outperform’ and cut the price target to 2,900p from 3,250p as it said the shares look "fairly valued".
Polymetal mulls Kazakh listing to ease pressure on assets
Russia-focused gold and silver miner Polymetal said it was considering a moving its domicile to Kazakhstan from Jersey as it sought to find a jurisdiction deemed to be “friendly” by Moscow.
Boeing's Q4 profits miss, but company beats on free cash flows
Boeing missed analysts' estimates for both its top and bottom line growth in its fourth quarter.
Microsoft looking into global cloud outage
Microsoft said on Wednesday that it was investigating an outage that hit the US tech firm’s cloud platform, Azure, Teams messaging, its videoconference service, Outlook and Word and Excel programmes.
Berenberg downgrades Direct Line to 'hold'
Berenberg downgraded Direct Line on Wednesday to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and slashed the price target to 160p from 272p, as it said investors should be prepared for no dividend per share for 2023.
UK’s CMA to probe Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday that it has begun the first phase of an investigation into Broadcom’s $61bn takeover of VMware.
EasyJet sees 2023 profits ahead of expectations as bookings soar
Budget airline easyJet said it expected to beat full-year profit expectations as it narrowed losses in the first quarter and forward bookings into the summer surged.
Europe midday: Shares slip further despite German Ifo data
European shares slipped further into the red at midday on Wednesday, despite data showing German business sentiment had improved.
London midday: Stocks flat but airlines higher on easyJet update
London stocks were little changed by midday on Wednesday, but airlines got a boost after an upbeat update from easyJet.
Regulator fines Intouch Games £6.1m
Intouch Games Group has been ordered to pay £6. 1m for social responsibility and money laundering failings, the regulator confirmed on Wednesday, its third fine since 2019.
Morgan Stanley says broader growth story intact at Darktrace, upgrades
Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded their recommendation for shares of Darktrace from 'equalweight' to 'overweight', arguing that the "broader growth story remained intact".
Asia close: Shares mostly higher as investors in Seoul play catch-up
Asian stocks continued moving higher despite a mixed session overnight on Wall Street, including investors' subdued reaction to the latest quarterly figures out of technology giants Microsoft and Texas Instruments.