Acacia Mining to resume gold exports from North Mara, Unite Group acquires new development in Nottingham
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 39 points higher on Monday, having closed down 0.44% at 7,253.85 on Friday.
Stocks to watch
Acacia Mining has been told it can resume gold exports from its North Mara mine in Tanzania after receiving government clearance. The company on Monday said it had received a letter from the Mining Commission of the Tanzanian Ministry of Minerals lifting a suspension “subject to its adherence to the export procedure”. The ban was introduced in 2017 to keep processing activities in Tanzania. Acacia last month accepted a 232p a share offer from 64% parent Barrick Gold.
Student accommodation owner, manager and developer The Unite Group has exchanged contracts to acquire a new 620-bed development site in Nottingham, it announced on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said the direct let development, which remained subject to planning consent, would open in time for the 2022-2023 academic year. It said total development costs were estimated to be £48m, delivering a development yield in line with its stated targets.
Tullow Oil announced the results of its Jethro-1 exploration well on Monday, drilled on the 60%-owned Orinduik licence offshore Guyana to a total depth of 4,400 metres in 1,350 metres of water. The FTSE 250 firm said the well encountered 55 metres of net oil pay, which supported a recoverable oil resource estimate exceeding Tullow's pre-drill forecast. It said it “significantly” de-risked other Tertiary-age prospects on the Orinduik licence, including the shallower Upper Tertiary Joe prospect, which would begin drilling later in the month.
Newspaper round-up
Britons have spent £4bn stockpiling goods in preparation for a possible no-deal Brexit, new research suggests. One in five people are already hoarding food, drinks and medicine, spending an extra £380 each, according to a survey by the finance provider Premium Credit. The survey found that about 800,000 people have spent more than £1,000 building up stockpiles before the 31 October Brexit deadline. – Guardian
Customer complaints about British betting companies have increased by almost 5,000% over the past five years, with problem gamblers alleging that bookies continue to entice them to bet even after they have pleaded to be left off mailing lists. The figures, obtained by BBC Panorama from the Gambling Commission regulator, show there were a record 8,266 complaints in 2018, compared with just 169 in 2013. – Guardian
MPs attempting to block a no-deal Brexit may have run out of time and options to prevent Britain leaving the European Union on October 31, a respected think tank has said. The Institute for Government has claimed that “time is running out” for the Remainers who are attempting to delay Brexit, and that “simply voting against” no-deal cannot stop Boris Johnson. – Telegraph
A second American short-seller has taken aim at Burford Capital, claiming it is “inappropriately financed” and that public scrutiny was “long overdue”. Gotham City Research waded into the controversy surrounding the litigation financing company yesterday, issuing a statement saying Burford has enjoyed an “absurdly high valuation” and defending the contentious methods of Muddy Waters and other activist short-sellers, saying they “should be applauded for their work”. – The Times
Turning Sports Direct from a budget tracksuit retailer into the “Selfridges of sport” will take at least four years, Mike Ashley’s future son-in-law has said. Michael Murray, 29, who is in charge of the retailer’s “elevation” strategy, said that working with Mr Ashley required him to be a “translator” as the bullish tycoon “likes to make punchy statements and then it’s up to me to figure out what that actually means”. – The Times
US close
US stocks closed lower on Friday, with renewed trade fears and political woes in Italy weighing on global investor sentiment.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.34% at 26,287.44, while the S&P 500 was 0.66% weaker at 2,918.65 and the Nasdaq Composite closed 1.00% softer at 7,959.14.
The Dow closed 90.75 points lower after stocks finished noticeably higher on Thursday, bringing traders some sense of relief after the rollercoaster trading conditions seen during the previous session.
However, lenders' shares were dragging markets lower in Europe on Friday afternoon as Italian banks tumbled on political uncertainty.
Italy's coalition government imploded on Thursday evening, with deputy prime minister and leader of the nation's ruling Lega party, Matteo Salvini, labelling the arrangement unworkable before calling for fresh general elections that analysts said might possibly take place as early as October.