Rio Tinto cuts guidance after cyclone, Hays sees good net fee growth
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 19 points higher on Tuesday, having closed down 0.003% at 7,436.87 on Monday.
Stocks to watch
The impact of March's tropical cyclone in Western Australia has forced miner Rio Tinto to cut its guidance for annual ore shipments. The company on Tuesday said first quarter iron ore sales of 69.1m tonnes were 14% lower year on year due to lower production and damage to the port facilities caused by cyclone Veronica. Annual iron ore shipments guidance was cut to 333m – 343m tonnes from a previous range of 338m - 350m.
Recruitment company Hays reported “good” net fee growth of 6% in its third quarter on Tuesday, with underlying growth of 5% adjusted for the timing of Easter. The FTSE 250 firm said that was led by 7% growth in its international businesses. It said it saw decent cash generation, with net cash standing at £30m as at 31 March, up from £5m year-on-year.
JD Sport Fashion reported a 49% increase in revenue to £4.7bn for the 52 weeks ended 2 February, with a 15.5% increase in profit before tax and exceptionals to £355.2m. Total like-for-like sales were up more than 6%.
Newspaper round-up
More than 3,000 people have applied to stand as Change UK candidates at the European parliament elections, overwhelming the fledgling centrist party. MPs from the Independent Group, the force behind the new organisation, are working through applications and will select from a shortlist of 100 this weekend. - The Times
Amazon’s customer review system is being undermined by a flood of “fake” five-star reviews for products from unfamiliar brands, a new investigation claims. The consumer group Which? analysed the listings of hundreds of popular tech products in 14 online categories including headphones, dash cams, fitness trackers and smartwatches, checking for telltale signs of suspicious reviews. - Guardian
A recent collapse in global trade is the worst since the financial crisis and as steep as during the recession of the early 2000s, according to new figures from the Dutch government. World trade volumes slumped 1.8pc in the three months to January compared to the preceding three months as factories grapple with a deepening global industrial downturn, the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis revealed. - Telegraph
US close
Wall Street markets finished just below the waterline on Monday as earnings seasons began, with banking giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs posting their first-quarter numbers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1% to finish at 26,384.77, the S&P 500 was off 0.06% at 2,905.58, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.1% to settle at 7,976.01.
At the open, the Dow had lost 29 points as Sino-US relations remained in focus.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said over the weekend that he was hopeful talks between the two would soon come to a close.
According to Reuters, Mnuchin said on Saturday that a deal between the two nations would go "way beyond" previous agreements and that the two sides were "close to the final round" of negotiations.