Inflows rise for Ashmore and Man Group
London open
The FTSE 100 is seen bouncing back with a 42 point gain on Friday after skidding to a six-month low of 7,006.93 the day before.
Stocks to watch
Ashmore recorded net inflows of $1.9bn in the first quarter of its financial year as clients looked to take advantage of to price volatility across emerging markets. The FTSE 250 fund manager grew assets under management by $2.5bn during the three months ended 30 September, up 3% to $76.4bn.
Hedge fund manager Man Group saw funds under management edge up to $114.1bn from $113.7bn in the past three months. There were net inflows of $0.4bn despite the previously announced $2.2bn infrastructure mandate redemption.
Technical products group Diploma said it was buying Actios SAS, the parent company of Gremtek Group, for an undisclosed sum. Gremtek supplies own-branded protective sleeving and cable identification products to a broad range of industrial markets, principally in France, but also in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Newspaper round-up
The fashion chain Coast has become the latest casualty of the high-street crisis, with 300 jobs and 24 stores set to go. The brand’s high-street stores are closing, but its 145 department-store concessions will carry on trading as part of the sale to sister brand Karen Millen as part of an 11th-hour rescue deal. – Guardian
The multinational private equity company Blackstone is poised to acquire the live event and exhibition operator NEC Group in a deal worth more than £800m. “The takeover has been agreed and just needs to be formally signed,” said one source. “An official announcement is likely to made soon.” – Telegraph
Ministers are facing calls to draw a line under a “lost decade” for the economy by offering tax incentives to companies that help to boost productivity with investments in technology. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has been urged to create a new allowance for small businesses that invest in data analytics and cloud computing technology as he prepares to deliver the budget on October 29. – The Times
US close
The sell-off on Wall Street continued on Thursday, despite a lower-than-expected reading on consumer prices, as market participants tried to tried to figure out just how high the central bank would lift interest rates, even as they mulled over the uncertain backdrop on trade with China, the upcoming mid-term elections and stockmarket valuations.
In any case, while not all analysts expressed heightened concern around the stockmarket rout, there did appear to be a majority of cautious views.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 2.13% or 545.91 points to 25,052.93 while the S&P 500 was 2.06% or 57.31 points weaker at 2,728.37, taking the latter's fall over the preceding six sessions to 5.8% and nearer to wiping-out its year-to-date gains.