London’s leading stocks stayed under pressure at lunchtime with investors showing concerns about an apparent economic slowdown in China following the release of disappointing data. Mounting geopolitical concerns, sparked by the Taliban’s swift resurgence in Afghanistan, only added to the market’s worries.
US indices are also anticipated to fall. The Dow Jones is expected to open 99 points lower at 35,416, the S&P 11 points weaker at 4,457 while the Nasdaq 100 43 points worse off at 15,094.
The benchmark FTSE 100 fell 1.1% to 7,137.43 points while the FTSE 250 was off 0.4% at 23,690.03.
The aerospace and defence sector was in focus thanks to the latest M&A news as Meggitt (MGGT) sanctioned a takeover deal from Parker Hannifin while Cobham and Ultra Electronics (ULE) agreed terms on a merger.
COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
Ultra Electronics rose 4.5% to £33.02 after the FTSE 250 defence firm agreed to a premium-priced takeover by Cobham, owned by US private equity group Advent, an all-cash deal pitched at £35 per share and valuing Ultra at £2.6 billion.
Elsewhere, on a quiet Monday for UK corporate newsflow, mining titan BHP (BHP) shed 0.2% to £23.19 on confirmation it is in talks to sell its petroleum business to Australia’s Woodside.
Speculation that BHP could sell its oil and gas assets to concentrate more fully on mineral commodities has been brewing for weeks.
Specialist publisher Future (FUTR) firmed 5.3% to £38.82 on news it has acquired consumer media subscription outfit Dennis for about £300 million. Titles acquired in the deal include Kiplinger, MoneyWeek, Science & Nature and IT Pro.
Retail logistics specialist Clipper Logistics (CLG) cheapened 0.75% to 795p, despite announcing a contract win with John Lewis to provide additional e-commerce and store replenishment services from Clipper’s new distribution centre in Bardon, near Leicester.
The contract builds on a range of existing services that Clipper already provides for the retailer, including returns management for e-commerce products, forward orders for furniture, pre-retail operations for clothing suppliers.
In addition, the Clicklink joint venture provides click and collect services for John Lewis e-commerce customer orders to Waitrose and Co-op stores nationwide, as well click and collect services for many other retailers.
IN OTHER NEWS
Building materials group SigmaRoc (SRC:AIM) skipped 3.25% higher to 103.25p on receiving approval from Polish antitrust regulators for its planned €470 million acquisition of Rettig subsidiary Nordkalk.
Mining company Premier African Minerals (PREM:AIM) firmed 2.3% to 0.23p, having upped the estimated development cost for its Zulu lithium project in Zimbabwe to $69.3 million and hiked the project’s expected value and return rates, citing higher commodity prices.
Greetings cards to design-led giftware maker IG Design (IGR:AIM) cheapened 1.2% to 544.2p as the news finance director Giles Willits is to step down from his role and leave the company for personal reasons unsettled investors.
Diamond producer BlueRock Diamonds (BRD:AIM) climbed 13.6% to 46p after it discovered a 58.6 carat stone, to be sold in an August tender.
And immersive entertainment company Immotion (IMMO:AIM) improved 3.4% to 6.15p after the company said it expects to nearly achieve a core-earnings breakeven outcome for the first half of the year following a strong performance in its location-based entertainment business.
