First quarter earnings fall at eOne, Man Group funds under management slip
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 41 points lower on Friday, having closed up 0.28% at 7,186.36 on Thursday.
Stocks to watch
Interdealer broker TP ICAP said it had agreed to pay £15.4m fine to settle a case with the UK's financial regulator relating to trades by its Tullett Prebon unit between 2008 and 2011. The Financial Conduct Authority found that former managers in TP ICAP's Global Broking Division and in TP ICAP's Compliance Department “failed to act with due skill, care and diligence”. It also found that at the time there were inadequate systems and controls in place to deal with the risk of improper broker conduct.
Underlying first quarter core earnings fell at Entertainment One driven by higher costs and a softer performance at its family and brands division. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell to £13.4 million from £17.3m, Entertainment One said on Friday. The company has agreed a £3.3bn takeover by Hasbro.
Man Group reported funds under management of $112.7bn as at 30 September on Friday, slipping from $114.4bn on 30 June, after it saw positive investment movement of $0.7bn, net outflows of $1.1bn, and currency and other impacts of negative $1.3bn in the quarter. The FTSE 250 company noted it completed its $100m share repurchase earlier in the month, adding that it intended to repurchase up to another $100m of shares.
Newspaper round-up
The biggest music and movies store in Europe opens on Friday as the new Canadian owner of HMV takes the first step in a bold expansion plan he hopes will defy slumping sales of CDs and DVDs. The size of a supermarket and called HMV Vault, the Birmingham shop is stocking 80,000 CDs and 25,000 vinyl albums. It is a brave move at a time when traditional high-street retailers are closing in record numbers and in a business where online streaming has battered sales of physical entertainment products. – Guardian
The chief executive of British Airways’ owner has expressed sympathy for striking pilots, and urged – with thinly veiled criticism – the airline’s boss to “get involved” to negotiate a deal. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of IAG, raised hopes for a resolution to a pay dispute that saw the first pilot strikes in British Airways history, admitting it was “frustrating for me at times” to be on the sidelines of the dispute. He said it was a matter for BA’s management, but added that there was a “deal to be done” and he was “sure pilots’ issues could be resolved”. – Guardian
Sir James Dyson is pulling the plug on his flagship electric car project after two years of work because it is not commercially viable. In an email to employees, the inventor said his firm had tried and failed to find a buyer who could take the scheme on. Sir James said: "The Dyson board has therefore taken the very difficult decision to propose the closure of our automotive project." – Telegraph
Dozens of housing, regeneration and infrastructure projects across the country could be cancelled after the Treasury unexpectedly raised borrowing costs, local authorities have warned. The Treasury notified local authority finance officers on Wednesday that it was to sharply increase the interest rate on new loans from the Public Works Loan Board, the government body that issues loans to councils for capital projects. – The Times
Auditors at Deloitte failed to challenge bosses at Autonomy before its sale to Hewlett-Packard, a disciplinary tribunal has heard. The Financial Reporting Council, the audit watchdog, has alleged that Deloitte failed to properly audit the British software company. A seven-week tribunal against Deloitte and two of its partners opened in London yesterday. – The Times
US close
Stocks closed higher on Thursday as market participants kept a close eye on the status of high-level trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.57% at 26,496.67, while the S&P 500 was ahead by 0.64% to 2,938.13 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session 0.60% firmer at 7,950.78.
The Dow closed 150.66 points higher on Thursday after stocks closed out the previous session with some gains following reports that Beijing was open to a partial trade deal with Washington.
Sentiment took a hit early on Thursday after a report from the South China Morning Post stated that the two sides had not made any real progress in deputy-level trade talks earlier in the week.
The report also said that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would now only hold one day of talks, with the Chinese delegation planning to depart Washington on Thursday, instead of Friday, as originally expected.
However, stocks eventually rose to their session highs after Donald Trump announced that he would, indeed, be meeting with Liu He on Friday, rekindling hopes that the two countries could make progress on the trade front.
Trump tweeted: "Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I? I meet with the Vice Premier tomorrow at The White House."