Antofagasta holds production guidance, Redde Nortgate set to beat forecasts

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 17 points lower on Wednesday, having closed up 0.38% on Tuesday at 7,909.44.

Stocks to watch

Metals miner Antofagasta held annual production guidance despite quarter-on-quarter falls in copper and gold output. Copper production fell by 25.4% compared with the final three months of 2022 to 145,900 tonnes, in line with guidance, and 5.1% higher year on year.

Commercial vehicle rental provider Redde Northgate said on Wednesday that full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was likely to be ahead of market consensus and around the top end of the consensus range following a continued strong performance across the business. Analysts are expecting adjusted pre-tax profit of £155.2m, and a range of £149.6m to £164.4m.

Newspaper round-up

A trio of telecoms firms have been accused of overcharging hundreds of thousands of landline-only customers by almost £200m, according to research. Economists at Fideres argue that almost 600,000 UK landline-only customers have been charged “excessive” prices since 2009. - Guardian

The bakery chain Greggs is to appeal against a ban preventing a central London outlet from selling hot food through the night after police claimed it could lead to a spike in crime and disorder. The company was last summer refused an overnight licence to open its store in Leicester Square between between 11pm and 5am amid claims it could become a “hotspot for late-night disturbances and antisocial behaviour”. – Guardian

The former head of the CBI has said he has been made the “fall guy” for a wider crisis within Britain’s biggest business lobbying group, amid allegations of drug use and rape. Tony Danker said his reputation has been “totally destroyed” by the misconduct claims, which were unrelated to his dismissal but came to light around the same time. – Telegraph

The leading shareholder in HSBC has accused the bank’s bosses of being “closed-minded” about a break-up as Ping An detailed for the first time its plan to spin off the lender’s Asian division. The Chinese insurer, which owns an 8 per cent stake, claimed that the FTSE 100 bank had “refused to verbally engage in discussions” on its proposals and had “exaggerated many of the costs and risks”. It had been “extremely disappointed” by the “consistent closed-minded attitude” displayed by executives at the British group. – The Times

Lawyers for Jes Staley have been given the chance to question the former Barclays chief executive’s ex-boss at JP Morgan over allegations surrounding the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s veteran chairman and chief executive, has been ordered by a federal judge to set aside two days for questioning under oath as America’s largest bank grapples with legal action over its former ties with Epstein, the paedophile. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were little changed at the end of trading on Tuesday following a handful of quarterly earnings reports.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.03% at 33,976.63, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.09% to 4,154.87 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.04% softer at 12,153.41.

The Dow closed 10.55 points lower on Wednesday, doing little to impact gains recorded in the previous session.

Earnings were in focus on Tuesday, with banking giant Bank of America beating on both the top and bottom lines with its Q1 earnings amid rising interest rates, while Johnson & Johnson topped expectations with its results, leading the drug and consumer products manufacturer to hike its full-year guidance.

Goldman Sachs delivered weaker-than-expected Q1 revenues, as well as a $470.0m impact from its Marcus loans, while streaming behemoth Netflix posted mixed results after the close, with both subscriber growth and a weaker-than-expected outlook.