Next posts rise in sales, Smurfit Kappa on track for full year

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 15 points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 0.19% at 7,274.81 on Tuesday.

Stocks to watch

Fashion retailer Next reported a 17% rise in full-price sales during the third quarter compared to pre-pandemic levels but warned that momentum would slow in the final three months due to diminishing pent-up demand and supply-chain constraints. The company on Wednesday said sales in the five weeks to October 30 were up 14% compared with forecasts of 10% since its last update in September. It also maintained its annual pre-tax profit guidance of £800m and final quarter revenue growth of 10%.

Packaging company Smurfit Kappa said on Wednesday that it was on track to meet full-year earnings expectations as it posted a jump in revenue and earnings for the nine months to 30 September. Revenue grew 15% year-on-year to €7.29bn, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation 10% higher at €1.24bn. In the third quarter, EBITDA grew 16% to €454m.

Newspaper round-up

Another four energy suppliers have gone bust in a single day as historic gas market highs continue to rip through the UK’s energy market amid fresh fears that Russia may curb gas supplies to Europe. The energy regulator, Ofgem, said the collapse of four small energy suppliers on Tuesday would leave about 24,000 households in need of a new supplier, and bring the total number of bust energy companies to 17 since the start of September, affecting more than 2 million households. - Guardian

NHS mobile test-and-trace units run by Mitie are cutting the guaranteed pay of workers by a third after winning a new contract from the government. The outsourcing firm, which employs about 1,000 people at mobile testing sites, has told workers that from 8 November they will be guaranteed pay for an eight-hour shift each day, rather than 12 hours, slashing secure pay to £80 a day from £120. - Guardian

Jes Staley is in line for bonus payouts worth up to £22m after quitting as chief executive of Barclays in the wake of an investigation into his links with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. The banker - who is being treated as a "good leaver" after he stood down on Monday – is in line for as many as 11.4m shares valued at £22.5m if the bank hits targets in coming years, according to its annual report. - Telegraph

New RAF drones will cost the taxpayer an extra £300 million because of delays by the MoD, a report by the public accounts committee (PAC) on military waste has found. Parliament’s spending watchdog said “broken” systems for purchasing military kit by the MoD meant billions of pounds were being wasted by officials who “continually fail to learn” from their mistakes. - Telegraph

Lord Drayson, a former science and business minister, is attempting to take private the healthcare technology company he floated three years ago after a turbulent time on the markets. The Labour peer, 61, has approached the board of Sensyne Health requesting approval to speak to third-party investors to pursue a management buyout of the Aim-quoted company. - The Times

US close

Wall Street trading finished in the green on Tuesday, as investors awaited the outcome of this week's FOMC meeting.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.39% at 36,052.63, as the S&P 500 added 0.37% to 4,630.65 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.34% to 15,649.60.

The Dow closed 138.79 points higher on Tuesday after all three major indices hit fresh intraday highs before closing at record levels in the previous session.

Tuesday’s primary focus was the beginning of the Federal Reserve's potentially market-moving two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that kicked off during the day, with the central bank expected to announce that it will soon begin to unwind the $120.0bn monthly bond-buying programme it implemented as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In terms of earnings, Under Armour jumped 13.93% by the closing bell after a third-quarter earnings beat prompted the sportswear retailer to hike its full-year guidance.