Rio Tinto iron ore shipments rise, HomeServe signals solid year

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 23 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.67% at 6,250.69 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

Rio Tinto on Friday reported a 1.5% rise in second quarter iron ore shipments and added that demand from China was improving as the country’s economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. The world's largest iron ore miner shipped 86.7m tonnes of the commodity in the quarter to June 30, up from 85.4m tonnes a year earlier. "Our iron ore assets are performing well in a strong pricing environment and we are on track to meet our 2020 iron ore guidance," chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said.

HomeServe said it expected a solid performance in the current financial year as the home repair company indicated trading was picking up well after Covid-19 lockdowns. At the FTSE 100 company's membership business, policy renewal and cancellation rates were in line with past trends in the period from the start of April to 16 July, HomeServe said in a statement before its annual general meeting.

Newspaper round-up

People have not embraced an easing of lockdown restrictions in England’s pub, bars and restaurants, according to figures that showed a drop in sales of about 40% among venues that opened their doors at the beginning of the month. Pubs that were open in the week beginning 6 July posted a 39% decline in sales compared with the same period last year, while bars were down 43% and restaurants down 40%. – Guardian

Netflix shares dived Thursday evening after close, despite the streaming giant reporting relatively positive second quarter earnings amid the coronavirus pandemic. Netflix on Thursday announced it had added 10.09 million more paid subscribers than expected, as audiences bound to their homes because of Covid-19 restrictions binge-watched its shows in the absence of live events and movie theatres. – Guardian

British Airways, the world's largest operator of Boeing 747, said late Thursday it would retire its entire jumbo jet fleet with immediate effect due to the downturn in the travel industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Global curbs imposed to stem the spread of the virus led to a turbulence in air travel, placing the future of many airline companies in doubt. – Telegraph

Bellway has asked its subcontractors to cut their rates by 5 per cent as it seeks to pass on some of the cost pressures caused by Covid-19. The Tyneside-based housebuilder has written to its suppliers saying that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business had been “significant and unprecedented”. – The Times

The chairman of BT has dismissed rumours that it plans to sell a stake in its Openreach broadband business. Jan du Plessis, 66, told the annual meeting of the FTSE 100 telecoms company that Openreach “remains an important part of the BT group”. A media report in May suggested that BT was in early talks over the potential sale of a multibillion-pound stake in the business, which could have valued it at about £20 billion. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Thursday following a drop in Asian indices overnight.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.50% at 26,734.71, while the S&P 500 was 0.34% weaker at 3,215.57 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.73% softer at 10,473.83.

The Dow closed 135.39 points lower on Thursday, reversing some of the gains seen in the previous session following some positive results from early trials of a coronavirus vaccine and more quarterly earnings reports.

Weighing on sentiment at the open was news that Chinese stocks had seen their single largest one-day loss since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday amid a continued ratcheting up of tensions between Beijing and Washington appeared to dent appetite for stocks and riskier assets.

The White House was said to be contemplating a ban that would stop Chinese Communist Party members and their families from entering the US, according to the New York Times, while the administration stated it would also ban travel for employees of Chinese tech giant Huawei and other companies it sees as being complicit in helping Beijing abuse human rights.

The rise in tensions also overshadowed some solid economic data from China that showed second-quarter gross domestic product had expanded 3.2% year-on-year - topping consensus estimates for a reading of 2%.