Ferrexpo more than doubles pellet production, Shell flags mixed first quarter

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 17 points higher on Thursday, having closed up 0.37% on Wednesday at 7,662.94.

Stocks to watch

Ferrexpo more than doubled iron ore pellet production in the first quarter, driven by an improvement in the supply of electricity to operations in Ukraine, which enabled the restart of a second pelletiser line in late February 2023. Production for the three months to March was 0.90 million tonnes compared with 0.42 million tonnes in the prior quarter, but still 65% lower year on year.

Shell said in a first quarter update on Thursday that it was expecting increased LNG liquefaction volumes in its first quarter due to higher uptime at Prelude and QGC in Australia. The FTSE 100 oil major said its marketing results were set to be higher than in the fourth quarter of 2022, although its chemicals sub-segment was set to turn an adjusted loss.

Newspaper round-up

Business leaders in the north of England have written to the prime minister, chancellor and energy secretary asking for help to reach net zero. Big names including Drax, Siemens, Peel, Manchester airport, the CBI and all 11 local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) in the north signed a letter urging the government to prioritise green growth in the north – Guardian

The billionaire head of Canada’s largest grocery chain has been given a C$1.2m (US$890,000) raise, in a move likely to prompt controversy as grocery executives have faced sharp criticism for raising their prices amid record inflation. The raise for Galen Weston, chairman and president of grocer Loblaw Companies, brought his total pay last year to C$11.79m. Details of the deal were first reported by the Globe and Mail. – Guardian

Royal Mail bosses have accused striking workers of plotting to bankrupt the company and force it back into the hands of the taxpayer, amid a deepening row after talks collapsed. Directors criticised union leaders for saying they were “'becoming more comfortable' with the risk of administration” during discussions to agree a new pay deal, according to a letter leaked to the Telegraph. – Telegraph

Home Reit, which has spent the past two-and-a-half years frantically buying hundreds of properties to let out to homelessness charities, is thinking of selling some. Such a move, it said, would help to stabilise the business, which was plunged into crisis late last year when the short-seller Viceroy Research flagged concerns, including doubts over the reliability of some tenants. – The Times

The City regulator has warned the financial firms that fund it that its annual budget will rise to more than £680 million, pushed higher in part by the extra cost of a post-Brexit revamp of its responsibilities. The Financial Conduct Authority disclosed yesterday that its so-called annual funding requirement for 2023-4 is forecast to increase by 8.5 per cent to £684.2 million. – The Times

US close

Wall Street closed on a mixed note on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq suffering its third consecutive loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.24% at 33,482.72, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.25% to 4,090.38, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.07% to 11,996.86.

Investors were mulling over fresh data that showed a slowdown in service sector growth and private sector hiring.

Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand made an unexpected move by announcing a 50-basis point interest rate hike, double the amount analysts had been predicting.

The move contrasted sharply with the announcement made by its Australian counterpart on Tuesday, when it decided to pause interest rate raises.