08:14 , Graeme Evans
The FTSE 100 index has fallen 13.64 points to 8305.73, while the FTSE 250 index is broadly unchanged at just above 20,000.
Sainsbury’s shares have fallen 2% or 5.6p to 257.6p after the retailer posted its Christmas and third quarter sales figures. The stock also fell 3% yesterday amid weakness across the retail sector.
Shipping services firm Clarkson rose 4% or 170p to 4060p in the FTSE 250 index after it said results for 2024 are set to be slightly ahead of current market expectations.
It is due to report results on 10 March, when the underlying profit will be not less than £115 million.
07:57 , Graeme Evans
The UK has been at the centre of this week’s global bond market selloff, with the 10-year yield rising to a post-2008 high at 4.81%.
Higher borrowing costs normally bolster a currency but this has not been the case for sterling.
It has been the worst-performing G10 currency for two successive sessions, having fallen as low as $1.2239 yesterday. It currently stands at $1.2289.
Deutsche Bank said today: “The combination of sluggish growth and above-target inflation are adding to investors’ nerves, and the current pattern of market moves (with yields up and sterling down) is reminiscent of previous episodes of turmoil.
“However, the size of the moves are nowhere near the scale of what happened in 2022, when the 10 year gilt yield moved up by more than 100 basis points in the three sessions after the mini-budget took place.”
07:38 , Graeme Evans
Alliance Pharma, which joined the stock market in 2003, is set to be taken over in a private equity deal worth £349.7 million.
The group, which targets consumer healthcare categories in areas including scar, scalp, eczema and dry skin care, has backed an approach by DBAY Advisors.
The recommended price of 62.5p a share represents a 41% premium to last night’s closing price and follows five earlier proposals by the same firm.
DBAY owns 27.9% of the business, having first taken a stake in December 2022.
Alliance, which generates about 30% of its revenues in China, said many of its planned initiatives are at an early stage and will take time to deliver value.
Chair Camillo Pane added: “The board of Alliance believes that the offer from DBAY represents an attractive and certain value in cash today for our shareholders.”
Read more here
07:19 , Graeme Evans
Story continues
Sainsbury’s today said grocery sales rose 3.8% in the six weeks to 4 January.
Chief executive Simon Roberts said the performance represented seven consecutive quarters of volume performance ahead of the market.
He added: “We have won grocery market share for the fifth consecutive Christmas, with more customers choosing Sainsbury’s for their big shop.”
It remains on track for an annual operating profit within the company’s guidance range between £1.01 billion and £1.06 billion, representing growth of around 7%.
Across the third quarter of the financial year, like-for-like sales rose by 2.8% compared with 4.2% in the previous three months.
Argos sales fell 1.4% in the quarter but with a return to growth over the eight weeks covering the peak Christmas and Black Friday period.
Read more here
07:06 , Graeme Evans
Sterling stands at $1.227 this morning, having fallen to a one-year low during a turbulent week for UK financial markets.
The 10-year gilt yield is at its highest level since 2008 at 4.81%.
The FTSE 100 index is forecast to open 26 points lower at 8294, having risen 0.8% yesterday as overseas earning stocks benefited from the weaker pound.
Today’s session includes the release of the monthly US jobs report, which will have a bearing on the US interest rate outlook in 2025.
Deutsche Bank economists are looking for non-farm payrolls to grow by 150,000 in December. This compares with 227,000 in November, a figure boosted by a bounce back from previous weather disruption and the end of strikes.
The bank adds that the six-month average is currently running at 143,000. It sees the unemployment rate ticking up by a tenth to 4.3%.