Glencore's own-sourced copper production falls, FirstGroup trades in line

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open six points lower on Friday, having closed up 0.76% on Thursday at 7,646.05.

Stocks to watch

Glencore reported a 4% decrease in own-sourced copper production in its first half on Friday, mainly due to mining sequences at Collahuasi and Antamina, and lower copper by-products outside the copper department. The FTSE 100 firm said cobalt production increased 5%, while nickel production saw a 20% decline. Ferrochrome production was 9% below the first half of 2022 due to planned smelter offline days, and coal production remained steady. Glencore maintained its full-year production guidance.

FirstGroup said in an update on Friday that its trading performance for the financial year-to-date was in line with the expectations it outlined in June. The FTSE 250 passenger transport operator also said it had completed £70.9m of its £75m on-market share buyback programme, launched last December, adding that on completion, it planned to initiate another buyback of up to £115m of shares, subject to approval at its annual general meeting being held later in the day.

Newspaper round-up

Sweden’s state energy company has abandoned work on a multibillion-pound wind farm off the coast of Norfolk because of soaring costs in a blow to Britain’s clean energy ambitions. Vattenfall said it was stopping development of the 1.4 gigawatt Norfolk Boreas wind farm, which could have powered about 1.5 million homes, after supply chain problems and inflation increased its costs by up to 40 per cent. - The Times

Big brand-owners such as Heinz and Unilever are to be investigated by the competition regulator amid concerns shoppers are being overcharged for groceries. The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) said its investigation into rising grocery prices will look at the role of international food conglomerates, which is also likely to include companies such as Cadbury-owner Mondelez and Coca-Cola. - Daily Telegraph

CVC, the private equity group, has defied the sceptics by successfully raising a record €26 billion ($27.9 billion) from investors for a new fund to do buyout deals. The biggest ever private equity fundraising, for the CVC Capital Partners IX fund, eclipses the $26.2 billion raised by Blackstone for its Capital Partners VIII in 2019 and comes at a difficult time for the asset class. - The Times

The parent of Royal Mail has appointed insider Martin Seidenberg its group chief executive as it embarks on a dramatic overhaul. Seidenberg has been promoted to the head of International Distributions Services (IDS) and will take up the role next month. - Daily Mail

The Labour party has won its biggest ever by-election victory by overturning a 20,000-vote Conservative majority in Selby and Ainsty, sending a 25-year-old to parliament. But Keir Starmer’s party failed to win Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Boris Johnson’s old constituency. The Conservatives held on to the outer London seat with a majority of 495, the only bit of good news in an otherwise miserable night for Rishi Sunak. - Guardian

US close

Wall Street finished Thursday’s trading with mixed outcomes, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its longest series of gains in six years, while disappointing earnings reports weighed down the Nasdaq.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average continued its impressive streak, climbing 0.47% to end the day at 35,225.18.

Contrastingly, the S&P 500 fell 0.68% to 4,534.87, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.05% to finish at 14,063.31.

In currency markets, the dollar was last down 0.04% against sterling at 77.68p, while it declined 0.07% on the common currency to 89.79 euro cents.

Against the yen, the greenback slipped 0.17% to change hands at JPY 139.83.