Johnson Matthey secures lithium plant site, Meggitt awarded contract in US tank upgrade
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 27 points higher on Thursday, having closed down 0.03% at 7,194.19 on Wednesday.
Stocks to watch
Johnson Matthey said it has secured the site for a factory and a 10-year supply of lithium to enable the chemicals group to meet customers' future commercial requirements for its new eLNO electric battery cathode materials. The FTSE 100 group has secured a site in Konin, central Poland, where it will construct a commercial plant with the aim of beginning production in 2021/22.
Aerospace, defence and energy components and systems provider Meggitt has been awarded a contract worth up to $37m from General Dynamics Land Systems, to provide the auxiliary cooling and power system for the Abrams tank programme, it announced on Thursday. The FTSE 250 firm said the system provided both auxiliary cooling and exportable power to the tank with the main turbine engine shut down, and supported a recent award from the US Government.
Sabre Insurance, the private motor insurance underwriter, declared a final ordinary dividend of 6.8p and a special dividend of 6.0p after it focused on underwriting profitability over growth last year. However, adjusted profit before tax decreased 3.1% to £61.9m, with statutory PBT up 10.6% to £61.4m.
Newspaper round-up
Car manufacturers have said their anxiety over Brexit is now “at fever pitch” after latest monthly production figures showed another major decline, with a 15% year-on-year drop in output in February. The double-digit drop was the ninth consecutive month in which British car manufacturing output has fallen. The industry blamed declining demand in the UK and in key European and Asian export markets for the continuing slump, which saw just 123,203 vehicles made last month, more than 22,000 fewer than the previous February. - Guardian
The transport group Arriva, which runs UK rail franchises including Northern and the London Overground as well as buses around the country, is to be put up for sale by its owner, Deutsche Bahn. The German state rail operator has revived plans for a sell-off or possible public flotation for the UK-based company. – Guardian
Anya Hindmarch is set to change hands after Soho House’s publicity-shy backers snapped up a stake in the luxury handbag brand from Qatar’s royal family. The Marandi Family, which is led by Iranian-born entrepreneur Javad Marandi, is buying a majority stake from Doha-based Mayhoola For Investments. It initially bought a £27m controlling stake in the business in 2012 before raising its stake to more than 75pc last year. - Telegraph
As Tottenham Hotspur fans stream into the gleaming new stadium for the first time next week, few will spare a thought for the suppliers helping to make it a venue envied by the club's Premier League rivals. Fran Jones, Tottenham's head of partnerships, says: “We have been able to learn from the mistakes of other venue holders to try to deliver something better than what there has been before." – Telegraph
Investors are paying to lend money to the German government for the first time in three years, as bund yields fall deep into negative territory amid fears about global growth and predictions that the European Central Bank will keep money cheap for longer. The German finance ministry yesterday raised €2.4 billion through a ten-year bond auction that was 2.6 times oversubscribed. The average interest rate agreed was -0.05 per cent. It was the first negative-yielding fundraising since the autumn of 2016, when the ECB was in the middle of its €2.5 trillion quantitative easing programme. – The Times
US close
Wall Street trading closed after sustained losses on Wednesday, amid a continuing rapid decline in US Treasury yields and 'market chatter' regarding possible interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 0.13% at 25,625.59, the S&P 500 lost 0.46% to 2,805.37, and the Nasdaq 100 was off 0.58% at 7,308.19.
At the open, the Dow lost 45 points as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was trading at 2.37%, hitting its lowest level since late 2017.
The official daily 10-year Treasury yield sat at 2.39% on Wednesday evening.
RBC Capital Markets said what looked to be the most likely catalyst for the move lower was Donald Trump’s latest nominee for the Federal Reserve, Stephen Moore, calling for an immediate 50 basis points rate cut from the Fed in a New York Times interview.