Anglo American revises diamond outlook down, JD Sports buying US retailer Hibbett

Stocks to watch

Anglo American reported an 11% increase in copper production in its first quarter on Tuesday, driven by higher throughput at Quellaveco despite planned lower grades, along with improved grades and throughput at Collahuasi and El Soldado. The mining giant said steelmaking coal production rose 7%, while iron ore production remained steady. However, rough diamond production fell 23% due to market inventory adjustments, prompting a downward revision of the full-year 2024 production guidance to 26 million to 29 million carats with adjusted unit costs of about $90 per carat.

JD Sports Fashion on Tuesday said it was buying US sports fashion retailer Hibbett for $1.08bn (£878m). Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Hibbett has 1,169 stores in 36 states across the US trading under the Hibbett and City Gear fascias. JD Sports said it would pay $87.50 a share in cash for Hibbett stock.

Newspaper round-up

P&O Ferries seafarers have been told they will benefit from new French legislation that could double their pay, in what appears to be a significant U-turn by the controversial ferry operator. The move comes more than two years after P&O enraged the UK and French governments by sacking 786 workers and then taking advantage of a legal loophole to hire replacements on pay rates of below the minimum wage. – Guardian

The EU has said it will ban a new service launched by TikTok in Europe that it believes could be “as addictive as cigarettes” unless the company offers “compelling” fresh evidence that children are safeguarded. If the ban goes ahead, it would be the first time the EU has used sweeping new powers to impose sanctions on social media companies since its landmark Digital Service Act (DSA) came into force last August. – Guardian

City advisers are set to make almost £80m from Nationwide’s planned £2.9bn Virgin Money takeover. Nationwide expects to fork out £41m on fees and expenses in total, documents published on Monday show, while Virgin Money will spend £38m. Bankers from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, who are working for Virgin Money, are expected to receive £30.5m of the pot. Nationwide is set to pay £15.5m for financial advice from UBS. – Telegraph

Donald Mackenzie, one of the co-founders of CVC and the dealmaker who masterminded the buyout of Formula 1, has been revealed as a euro billionaire after CVC published its prospectus. Mackenzie, 66, a Jersey-based accountant from Scotland, holds shares in the private equity group CVC worth between €889 million and €1.03 billion, according to the selling document, and is proposing to cash in around €122 million worth. – The Times

It might need a takeover bid for a major UK blue chip company to wake up investors to the value in the oversold London stockmarket, a leading fund manager has said. Nick Train, one of the market’s best known stock pickers, said: “Sometimes you need a cathartic event to turn the tide.” – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the green at the close of trading on Monday as market participants looked ahead to key earnings from a number of major tech firms.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.67% at 38,239.98, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.87% to 5,010.60 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.11% firmer at 15,451.31.

The Dow closed 253.58 points higher on Monday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Tech earnings will be the flavour of the week this time around, with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, software giant Microsoft, iPhone maker Apple, chipmaker Intel, and Google owner Alphabet all slated to report in the week ahead.

On the macro front, the Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index rose to 0.15 in March, up from an upwardly revised reading of 0.09 for February and beating expectations for a 0.09% reading for the highest reading since November 2023.