Grafton Group holds guidance, Ithaca buys rest of Fotla discovery
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 0.12% on Tuesday at 7,282.52.
Stocks to watch
International building materials distributor and DIY retailer Grafton Group held annual guidance as first-half revenues rose 3.2% despite the cost-of-living crisis hitting volumes. The company on Wednesday said revenue for the six months to June 30 was £1.19bn compared with £1.15bn in the prior year. Average daily group like-for-like revenue in the second quarter was slightly stronger against the prior year than the performance in the first quarter, it added.
Ithaca Energy has signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 40% stake in the Fotla discovery and three exploration licenses from Spirit Energy Resources, it announced on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 firm said the acquisition would give it full control over pre-final investment decision work and timing, bringing its working interest in the Fotla discovery to 100%. It said the transaction included contingent payments that would be made on final investment decision and first production.
Newspaper round-up
The head of the UK’s financial regulator is to warn that banks, investors and insurers will have to ramp up their spending to combat scammers using artificial intelligence to commit fraud. Nikhil Rathi, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will say that there are risks of “cyber fraud, cyber-attacks and identity fraud increasing in scale and sophistication and effectiveness” as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread, in a speech in London on Wednesday. – Guardian
A US judge has ruled that Microsoft may go forward with its planned $69bn acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard, while the UK competition watchdog said it was ready to discuss changes answering its concerns over the deal. The US competition watchdog, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), had originally asked the judge to stop the proposed deal, arguing it would give Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming console, exclusive access to Activision games including the bestselling Call of Duty. – Guardian
Elon Musk’s Tesla is poised to gatecrash Britain’s energy market by selling electricity to households. Tesla is developing plans to register as an electricity provider with the industry regulator and launch a “retail electricity product in the UK”, a job listing has revealed. – Telegraph
Plans to use hydrogen for heating and cooking in up to 2,000 homes in Cheshire have been scrapped after opposition from residents. Cadent, the gas network company, and British Gas, the household energy supplier, hoped to convert part of Whitby in Ellesmere Port into a world-first “hydrogen village” trial as they attempt to prove that the clean-burning fuel can be used as a replacement for planet-warming natural gas. – The Times
The City regulator has been urged to ensure that Odey Asset Management retains assets in the event that the hedge fund has to cover any redress to women who allege they were sexually assaulted by the firm’s founder. Jill Greenfield, a lawyer representing two women who claim they were assaulted by Crispin Odey, has written to the Financial Conduct Authority to ask the watchdog to ring-fence funds that might be needed if litigation results in damages being awarded. – The Times
US close
Wall Street ended Tuesday’s session on a positive note, as investors looked to a forthcoming inflation report and the start of the second-quarter earnings season.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.93% at 34,261.42 points, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.67% to settle at 4,439.26.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also joined the uptrend, gaining 0.55% to conclude the day at 13,760.70.
On the currency front, the dollar was last down 0.03% on sterling to trade at 77.3p, and slipped by the same margin against the common currency to 90.81 euro cents.
It also saw a slight downtick against the yen of 0.06%, last changing hands at JPY 140.27.