Essentra considering return to dividends, Resolute Mining earnings surge in first half

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 31 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.75% at 5,999.99 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

Essentra said business was improving and that it would consider restarting dividends in the current year as it posted a 40% decline in underlying profit. Adjusted operating profit for the six months to the end of June fell to £29m from £48m as revenue dropped 11% to £448m. The company paid no interim dividend and said it was on track to meet market expectations for annual profit.

Resolute Mining reported a 33% improvement in revenues in its first half on Friday, to $305.29m (£230.24m), as its EBITDA surged 85% year-on-year to $101.11m. The AIM-traded firm declared no interim dividend for the six months ended 30 June, in line with the prior year, as its all-in sustaining cost rose to $1,020 per ounce, from $828 a year earlier.

Newspaper round-up

Britain’s economic recovery from Covid-19 gathered pace in the past month, fuelled by consumer spending and people taking advantage of the government’s “eat out to help out” scheme, despite fears mounting over rapid growth in unemployment. - Guardian

Boris Johnson is facing calls from senior Tory MPs to give a “clear and consistent message” that it is safe for people to go back to work, amid warnings of “devastating consequences” for town and city centres. - The Times

ITV looks set to be kicked out of the FTSE 100 when the London Stock Exchange carries out its latest quarterly reshuffle next week. - Telegraph

Rolls-Royce has warned that its future could be at risk if the Covid downturn becomes even more severe, after plunging to a record £5.4bn half-year loss. - Telegraph

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is set to announce his resignation later on Friday, according to public broadcaster NHK, amid growing concerns about his health after he made two hospital visits in the space of a week. - Guardian

Against a backdrop of a global pandemic, heightened racial tensions, and widespread unemployment, Donald Trump framed his Democratic rival Joe Biden as the real danger to the country’s safety and economic welfare in his address to the Republican convention on Thursday. - Guardian

US close

Wall Street turned in a mostly positive performance on Thursday as market participants digested comments made by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell regarding the central bank's plans for the future of monetary policy in the US and several data releases.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.57% at 28,492.27 and the S&P 500 was 0.17% firmer at 3,484.55, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.34% weaker at 11,625.34.

The Dow closed 160.35 points higher on Wednesday, extending a rally started in the previous session.

Thursday's main focus was a speech from the Fed's Jerome Powell at the central bank's annual symposium, held virtually this year as opposed to its usual site in Jackson Hole.

Powell stated the Fed had formally agreed to a policy of "average inflation targeting", meaning the central bank would let inflation run "moderately" above its 2% goal for "some time" despite attempting to cap it at that level for several years.

He also acknowledged the importance of a strong labour market, stating it would ensure that US employment doesn't fall below its maximum level.