US president Donald Trump has sent the FTSE 100, along with other global stock markets, lower this morning after dashing hopes of a trade deal with China.
At 9am, the UK’s benchmark index is down around 0.6% at 7,226.19 following Trump’s comments that China ‘broke the deal’ it had with the US.
The day's biggest FTSE 100 faller by far is British Gas-owner Centrica (CNA) despie the lack of obvious news. The reason for the stock's 8% slump today to 96.64p - a 20-year low - is that its considerable payout has gone ex-dividend, where new investors lose the right to the next 8.4p per share payment.
The fall in the FTSE 100 hasn’t been helped by some of the big players like BT (BT.A) and Morrisons (MRW), which are down after failing to excite investors with bland and slightly concerning results.
Shares in BT drop 1.9% to 215p as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 2% to £7.39bn and revenue dipped 1% to £23.5bn as consumer arm growth was offset by divisions elsewhere.
But the telecom giant has maintained its dividend, proposing a final dividend of 10.78p per share, giving a full-year dividend of 15.4p, the same as last year.
The firm has bemoaned what it calls a ‘very challenging and competitive UK market.’
WHERE'S THE GROWTH?
Supermarket Morrisons falls 0.9% to 213p despite reporting 2.3% rise in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 5 May. Investors are disappointed as Morrison’s retail business only contributed 0.2% to the rise in sales, which suggests that the company is underperforming its competitors like Tesco and Asda.
But its online competitor Ocado (OCDO) adds 0.8% to £13.64 after informing the market that it has relaxed its home delivery relationship with Morrisons.
It now means Morrisons can agree home delivery deals with other partners and boost its presence in parts of the country Ocado doesn’t operate in.
But it would seem investors are more interested in what it means for Ocado, which says it now has the capacity to grow and therefore mitigate the impact from the fire in February which caused serious damage to its flagship warehouse in Andover.
UPBEAT BARRATT
Investors are also more optimistic on housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV), which adds 0.5% to 589p after telling the market its outlook for 2019 is ‘modestly above’ its previous expectations.
Britain’s largest housebuilder has done better than its competitors in taking advantage of the country’s housing shortage, and expects more volume growth driven by ‘good customer demand’.
Insurer RSA (RSA) adds 1.3% to 541p after reassuring investors its first-quarter results were ‘in-line’ with its demanding plans for the period, and adding that its underwriting actions were on track for improvement after a tough 2018.
Operating profit was up while its weather costs, large loss and attritional loss ratios, and its controllable expenses all improved over the period.
Fashion brand Superdry (SDRY) dips 2.4% to 469p after disappointing investors by warning its full-year underlying profits will probably be below what analysts expect.
Although its Global Brand revenue was up 3.6% to £1.736bn, group revenue was flat year-on-year and dropped 3.5% in the fourth quarter, and the firm says trading continues to be weak.
