AB Foods maintains guidance, Syncona portfolio firm reports success

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.23% on Thursday at 7,472.17.

Stocks to watch

Associated British Foods maintained full-year guidance on Friday, saying it continued to expect further significant input cost inflation, but the volatility of input costs had diminished. “We continue to expect the aggregate profit of our food businesses to be ahead of our last financial year,” the Primark owner said ahead of its annual general meeting. “At this early stage, Primark trading in this financial year has been encouraging. We are on track to open 27 new stores this financial year, ten of these opening in the run-up to Christmas, and to date we have opened six new stores, including one today in Angers, France,” said chairman Michael McLintock.

Syncona portfolio company Autolus Therapeutics announced that a phase 2 clinical trial in adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients has met its primary endpoint at interim analysis. Its treatment demonstrated an overall remission rate, the primary endpoint for the trial, of 70% in an interim analysis of 50 patients, the company said on Friday. Martin Murphy, chief executive of Syncona Investment Management, said: "Today's announcement from Autolus marks an important moment for the company as it progresses its lead programme of obe-cel in adult ALL.”

Housebuilder Berkeley backed its full-year profit outlook on Friday even as it posted a drop in first-half profits. In the six months to the end of October, pre-tax profits dipped 2% to £284.8m as revenues fell 1.6% to £1.2bn. During the period, cash due on forward sales rose to £2.33bn from £2.17bn. Berkeley said the value of underlying sales secured in the first half was 2% higher than the equivalent values secured in the financial year to 30 April on a like-for-like basis.

Newspaper round-up

A “permanent” strike at the factory that makes Jacob’s Cream Crackers and Twiglets has come to an end after biscuit bosses crumbled and upped a pay deal for workers. More than 750 of about 800 workers returned to work at the brand’s factory in Aintree on Thursday having won a 6.5% pay increase, backdated to January, with a £500 bonus payment on top and a further £250 bonus to follow in January next year. – Guardian

The leader of the RMT union, Mick Lynch, has accused the government of deliberately ensuring next week’s rail strikes go ahead by blocking negotiations, with rail bosses calling off talks as “a waste of time” while ministers insist on unacceptable provisions. He said meetings between the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) representing train operators and the RMT had failed to occur for three successive days because of a clause inserted for driver-only operation, which all rail unions have bitterly opposed for many years. – Guardian

Jeremy Hunt is to tear up hundreds of pages of “overbearing” EU legislation in a bid to boost Britain’s financial services industry after Brexit. The Chancellor will on Friday in Edinburgh announce a package of reforms aimed at increasing the City of London’s competitiveness by relaxing ring-fencing rules on smaller banks and mandating financial regulators to focus on economic growth as well as consumer protection. – Telegraph

National Grid is on standby to alert households to cut their electricity usage in the coming days amid a looming supply squeeze. The country's grid operator has warned that electricity supplies will be tight on Friday and Sunday amid low wind levels and a cold snap sweeping the UK. – Telegraph

The former chief executive of Wirecard, who guided the payments company through its rise and subsequent collapse two years ago, went on trial for fraud yesterday, after a scandal that shook German politics and tarnished the country’s business reputation. Markus Braun, 53, who has been in custody since his arrest in 2020, and two other managers of the defunct blue-chip company face charges including fraud and market manipulation. If convicted, they could be jailed for 15 years. A verdict from the Berlin court is not expected before 2024. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks finished in positive territory on Thursday, with the S&P 500 breaking a five-day losing streak, as investors digested this week's jobless claims report from the Labor Department.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.55% at 33,781.48, as the S&P 500 added 0.75% to 3,963.51 and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 1.13% at 11,082.00.

The Dow closed 183.56 points higher on Thursday, boosting away from Wednesday’s flat performance.

Thursday's primary focus on the economic front was the Labor Department's all-important jobless claims report, which revealed Americans filed first-time unemployment claims at an accelerated clip in the week ended 3 December.

Initial jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 230,000, up from the prior week's upwardly revised print, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, also printed at 230,000 - the highest level seen since the final week of August.