Dunelm profits to top forecasts, Ashmore assets under management advance

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 16 points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 0.01% at 7,124.72 on Tuesday.

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UK homewares retailer Dunelm said annual profits would be ahead of forecasts as fourth quarter sales more than doubled driven by pent-up demand after stores reopened from Covid lockdown. Sales were up 101.7% to £380.1m in the 13 months to June 26 and rose 26.3% for the full year to £1.33bn. Fourth-quarter digital sales increased 38%. The company expects pre-tax profits of around £158m, compared with forecasts of £149m - £153m.

Emerging markets-focussed asset manager Ashmore updated the market on its fourth quarter on Wednesday, reporting that assets under management increased by $4.5bn (£3.25bn) over the period, comprising net inflows of $1.1bn and positive investment performance of $3.4bn. The FTSE 250 company said net inflows in the three months ended 30 June were driven by institutional clients and included a combination of new mandates, particularly in the overlay, equities and external debt themes, and additional allocations to existing funds across the fixed income and equities investment themes. It said there was a small net outflow from intermediary retail clients.

Newspaper round-up

More pubs, bars, hotels and restaurants could be facing collapse, despite restrictions easing from 19 July, having built up almost £10bn in debt during the pandemic. Hospitality, retail and property business leaders told MPs on Tuesday there was an urgent need to revamp business rates, kick off arbitration on rent debts and extend payment terms for government-backed loans, as the government hands over responsibility on Covid protection measures to individual businesses. - Guardian

The number of women in senior roles at FTSE 350 companies will lag behind men until 2036, after the Covid pandemic pushed the prospect of gender parity in the boardroom back by four years, according to a new report. The Women Count 2021 report, an annual study of the number of roles held by women at executive committee level or higher, found that just 15 companies of the 350 had female chief executives. These include Emma Walmsley at GSK, Alison Rose at NatWest and Carolyn McCall at ITV. - Guardian

Ministers will unveil a new blueprint for “decarbonising” Britain's transport system on Wednesday amid Whitehall wrangling over how to replace petrol tax after traditional cars and lorries are banned from the country's roads. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, will pledge to ban diesel and petrol lorries from 2035 and the sale of new petrol cars from 2030 – while promising billions to encourage cycling. - Telegraph

Ministers must intervene in a planned takeover of Britain’s biggest microchip factory to a Chinese-owned technology company over national security concerns, MPs have demanded. Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee warned the takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia, a Dutch firm owned by Chinese investors Wingtech, risked “prioritising short-term commercial interests over the long-term security of our country”. - Telegraph

The business secretary has asked officials to monitor the proposed £927 million takeover of a listed British respiratory drugs company by tobacco giant Philip Morris International after concerns were raised with the government about the deal. Kwasi Kwarteng is understood to be working with officials to better understand the plans Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, has for Vectura, the FTSE 250 company developing inhaled treatments for respiratory diseases, including Covid-19. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Tuesday as a key inflation report from the Department of Labor revealed that the cost of living in the US had jumped ahead of forecasts in June.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.31% at 34,888.79, while the S&P 500 was 0.35% stronger at 4,369.21 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.38% higher at 14,677.65.

The Dow closed 107.39 points lower on Tuesday, with the session's principal focus being on news that the cost of living in the US had jumped past forecasts in June, driven higher by big increases in the cost of energy, food and vehicles. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the country's consumer price index bounded ahead at a month-on-month pace of 0.9%, which pushed the annual rate of change up to 5.4%. Economists had anticipated that the latter would remain at May's level of 4.5%.

Core CPI also exceeded forecasts by a wide margin, increasing by 0.9% versus May which pushed the year-on-year rate of increase to 4.5%, ahead of consensus estimates for a print of 4.1%.

Tuesday's other primary focus point was earnings from JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, unofficially kicking off the second-quarter earnings season.