Market News and Views

The FTSE 100 is called to open lower this morning after finishing at its highest level since 1999 with US markets setting new record highs in the previous session. Ex-dividend factors will take off over 7 points from the index. Investors will now be focusing on the latest Bank of England MPC Meeting Minutes and domestic retail sales data in addition to the CBI Industrial Order Expectations survey. These will be followed in the US this afternoon with the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony and existing home sales figures. Any news coming out of the EU Economic Summit will also be examined and at 7.00pm UK time the Fed's FOMC Meeting Minutes will be published. Commodity prices are flat to higher and on the foreign exchanges, the major currencies are trading in narrow ranges ahead of the data releases and Ben Bernanke's speech.

 

Company Announcements

Lloyds Banking Group Capital Position Update. It has been informed as to the outcome of the Prudential Regulation Authority's considerations and the bank expects to meet its additional capital requirements via its 'strongly capital generative' core business, continued progress in executing its customer focused strategy and further capital accretive non-core asset disposals. It added that these additional capital requirements are expected to be met without recourse to further equity issuance or the utilisation of additional contingent capital securities.

SSE Preliminary Results see adjusted PBT up 5.6% at GBP1.41bn and the full year dividend raised 5.1% to 84.2p a share. There is an exceptional charge of GBP584.7m mainly pertaining to continuing Wholesale market issues. It added that it is targeting annual dividend increases above RPI inflation in 2013/14 and beyond and capital investment is expected to be around GBP1.5bn in 2013/14 after GBP1.48bn this year.

Carillion Contract. It has been selected as the preferred bidder to deliver the GBP400m first phase of redevelopment at Battersea Power Station. This takes the total value of new orders and probable orders for the company in 2013 to some GBP2.6bn.