Sharecast - The FTSE 100 was expected to open 60 points lower on Tuesday, having closed up 0.4% at 7,361.31 on Monday.
Stocks to watch
International distribution group Bunzl (LON:BNZL) said it was selling its UK healthcare division to Mediq and buying four other businesses. The transactions are expected to be profit neutral to the group and will generate a small cash inflow. No financial details were disclosed.Bunzl said it had bought New Zealand’s Toomac Ophthalmic & Solutions and GRC, an exclusive distributor of innovative medical technology devices in Australia.
Hilton Food Group has signed a long-term collaboration in Singapore with Country Foods, the company said on Tuesday. Country Foods is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia’s SATS and one of Singapore's largest food importers, distributors and manufacturers. The tie-up begins in the first quarter of 2023, will provide Singaporeans the opportunity to buy Hilton products, including: seafood, slow cooked meats and Australian beef, lamb and pork.
Newspaper round-up
MPs have called for a ban on forced installations of prepayment meters amid fears that elderly and vulnerable people are being effectively cut off from heating and power supplies. Prepayment meters (PPM) are under the spotlight as thousands of warrants allowing forced installations are being issued while households struggle with a rise in the cost of energy. – Guardian
A raft of nuclear power station closures have condemned France to two years of low output at the height of the European energy crisis, the country's state-owned electricity company has said. EDF (EPA:EDF) is forecasting annual output below historic typical levels until 2024 as it grapples with maintaining its ageing fleet. – Telegraph
Asda is battling a shortage of shopping trolleys in the crucial lead-up to Christmas. The supermarket is waiting on stocks of trolleys to be replenished after placing an order in October, as manufacturers in China are impeded by rigid Covid restrictions and a surge in cases. In some locations across the UK, Asda shoppers have been faced with empty trolley racks as a result. – Telegraph
A leading investor in Capricorn Energy (LON:CNE) is attempting to oust almost all of the oil company’s board in protest at a proposed merger it has called “a quick sale at the wrong price”. Palliser Capital, a hedge fund that owns almost 7 percent of the FTSE 250 group’s shares, has requisitioned an emergency general meeting to seek the removal of seven of the nine directors including Simon Thomson, the chief executive, who has led the company for more than a decade. – The Times
Wirecard was “a swindle from the beginning” with the former chief executive Markus Braun at its core, a key prosecution witness in a criminal fraud trial examining its collapse has told a court in Munich. Oliver Bellenhaus, who was head of the German payments group’s subsidiary in Dubai, became a chief witness in the case after turning himself in to the authorities in 2020. – The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks closed lower on Monday following back-to-back losing weeks for major indices.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.49% at 32,757.54, while the S&P 500 lost 0.90% to 3,817.66 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.49% weaker at 10,546.03.
The Dow closed 162.92 points lower on Monday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as market participants struggled to shake off recessionary concerns after the Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point short-term interest rate hike.
With all three major indices heading south on Monday, US stocks remained firmly on track to end the month in the red, with a Santa Claus rally now looking less likely.
On the macro front, the National Association of Home Builders' December housing market index fell from 38 in October to 33 in November - an 11th straight loss and, outside the immediate onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the lowest reading since 2012.