Bunzl acquires three businesses, M&S lifts profit guidance

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 15 points higher on Tuesday, having closed down 0.23% on Monday at 7,507.15.

Stocks to watch

Bunzl announced the acquisitions of three businesses in Spain, the Netherlands, and Canada on Tuesday, as well as the finalisation of another in Brazil. The FTSE 100 company said the acquisitions included a foodservice equipment distributor in Spain, a cleaning product distributor in the Netherlands with an emphasis on robotic and smart cleaning solutions, and a packaging solutions provider in Canada. Additionally, following an earlier announcement, Bunzl said it had finalised the purchase of a specialised safety distributor in Brazil.

UK food, clothes and homewares retailer Marks & Spencer on Tuesday lifted guidance for half-year profits after strong sales growth in the first 19 weeks of its financial year. In an unexpected market update, the company said like-for-like food sales grew more than 11% in the period as it "sharpened" prices on over 80 products in its 'Remarksable Value' lines designed to attract customers amid the cost-of-living crisis. Like-for-like Clothing & Home sales grew more than 6%, with strong growth in stores, and more subdued growth in the online channel.

Newspaper round-up

Donald Trump and several allies were indicted in Georgia last night, charged with launching a “criminal enterprise” to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in the state, after demanding that officials “find” the extra votes to reverse President Biden’s victory. In the indictment issued by district attorney Fani Willis in Fulton County after a two-year investigation, Trump, 77, was accused of racketeering, forgery and a string of other election crimes as he and associates pressured Georgia officials to overturn his narrow defeat to Biden. The indictment, which hinges on laws originally designed to prosecute the mafia, could prompt the first televised criminal trial of a former president in US history. - The Times

The chief executive of Harvey Nichols has quit abruptly following a clash with the luxury retailer’s Chinese owner over her plans for the business. Manju Malhotra is to step down after just over three years in the role and will be replaced by the son of Sir Dickson Poon, the tycoon who has owned Harvey Nichols through his company Dickson Concepts since 1991. - Telegraph

The government’s levelling up plans for England are being hampered by a funding system that is “not fit for purpose” and deprives the poorest areas of the financial support to match their needs, a leading think tank has said. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the method for allocating money to pay for public services is out of date, based on inadequate data and skewed in favour of the better-off south-east. - Guardian

Two more big London-listed companies have joined the roll call of those considering a listing in New York, a trend that threatens to undermine Britain’s standing as a financial centre. Plus500, the financial trading platform whose headquarters are in the UK, said it was looking at the possibility of securing a dual listing, while YouGov, the polling firm, said it was thinking about moving its listing from the Aim market to Wall Street. - The Times

The collapse of Wilko is bad news for staff, customers and Britain’s high streets – but not everyone will be commiserating. For the billionaire brothers behind rival B&M Value Retail, the collapse of their 93 year-old rival is an opportunity. “The Wilko administration offers further opportunity for B&M to take market share,” analysts at Deutsche Bank predicted this week, forecasting a £200m sales boost. The note helped B&M end the Monday at the top of the FTSE 100. - Telegraph

The daily usage of Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, continues to slump after a strong start in its first weeks of existence. Engagement with the social media app is down 79% from a high of 2.3 million active users in early July to 576,000 as of 7 August, according to Similarweb, a digital intelligence platform. - Guardian

US close

Wall Street saw a positive end to the trading day on Monday, with major indices advancing amid subdued trading activities.

The upswing came as market participants continued to mull over last week’s inflation data, and keenly awaited minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, due for release later in the week.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had registered modest gains, rising by 0.07% to 35,307.63.

The S&P 500 meanwhile advanced 0.58% to settle at 4,489.72, and leading the pack, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.05% to 13,788.33.

In currency markets, the dollar was little changed, last trading 0.01% lower on sterling at 78.84p.