- FTSE 100 closes 44 points higer
- Dow Jones holds gains, but other US indexes weaker
- IMF sees UK interest rates returning to pre-Covid levels
4.40pm: FTSE dips below 7,800 mark
The FTSE 100 had a good trading day but couldn’t hold its head above the 7,800 mark, closing at 7,786 points for a very respectable 0.6% gain on the day.
European equity indices benefitted from risk-on sentiment and traded in one-month highs after their prolonged Easter weekends, said Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at online trading platform IG.
“European stock indices continued to rise on Tuesday despite the IMF expecting global growth to slow from 3.4% in 2022 to a downwardly revised 2.8% this year,” Rudolph wrote. “US equity indices traded flat to slightly negative ahead of Wednesday’s US FOMC minutes and March inflation report which are to guide investors ahead of the start of the Q1 earnings season which kicks off on Friday.”
3.55pm: Tech stretched
Although the FTSE 100 index was heading into the last half-hour of trade in London not far from session highs, on Wall Street the mood remained cautious, with the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index remaining lower.
The weakness came as analysts at JPMorgan warned that the recent run in the technology sector is becoming “stretched” in absolute terms.
“It is looking overbought, close to all-time highs, with RSI’s (relative strength indicators) that are nearing elevated territory,” the US bank’s analysts said in a research note to clients.
The analysts also cited valuations for the so-called FAANG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google – shares which on standard deviation looked expensive, while globally price-to-earnings multiples for the sector were nearing 20-year highs.
FAANG stocks have rebounded by 26% in the year-to-date and Tech issues generally appear to have over-discounted the expected drop in bond yields, the JPMorgan analysts noted.
There was also the risk that the Federal Reserve would not deliver on market forecasts for interest rate cuts in the back half of 2023, they added.
3.30pm: New BoE rate-setter
Megan Greene, the global chief economist at Kroll, has been appointed to succeed Silvana Tenreyro as an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) when Tenreyro’s term ends in July.
Greene was previously global chief economist at Manulife Asset Management and is a senior fellow at Brown University in the United States and Britain’s Chatham House think tank.
In a statement from HM Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt said: “Megan Greene’s wide experience across financial markets and the real economy will bring valuable new expertise to the MPC.”
Tenreyro, a professor at the London School of Economics (LSE), joined the MPC in July 2017 and will soon have completed her second three-year term, the maximum for an external member of the committee. She is one of the most dovish BoE rate-setters and has voted against raising interest rates since last December.
Before Greene, the most recent appointee to the nine-member MPC was another LSE academic, Swati Dhingra, who joined the MPC in August 2022 and has also voted against recent rate rises. Dhingra replaced former Citi economist Michael Saunders, who voted for faster rate rises than most other policymakers in the first half of 2022.
3.10pm: What price loyalty
Sainsbury’s has begun offering lower prices on more than 300 items to the 18 million members of its Nectar loyalty scheme, rivalling a similar initiative by supermarket leader Tesco.
The ‘Nectar Prices’ scheme by the UK’s second-largest food retailer offers discounts on items including household products, pet food and confectionary when members scan their Nectar app or swipe their card at the supermarket checkout, or if shopping online link their Nectar and Sainsbury’s accounts.
Initial deals include a can of Heinz baked beans for 95p instead of the usual price of £1.40, a jar of Nescafe Gold Blend coffee for £4.00 instead of £8.10 and Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut cereal for £3.75 instead of £4.80.
“We will keep refreshing Nectar Prices and increasing the variety of products on offer,” Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts told Reuters.
Nectar members will continue to earn points for purchases which can be spent either at Sainsbury’s or with partners. The new initiative builds on a scheme launched in 2021 that saw Sainsbury’s offer lower prices to Nectar members using its ‘SmartShop’ self-scanner service.
2.50pm: Wall Street moribund
The FTSE 100 held its gains as US stocks opened cautiously on Tuesday as investors sat tight ahead of a slew of US economic data, including a key inflation report due Wednesday and the start of the Q3 earnings season with several big banks set to report on Friday.
Around 20 minutes after the New York open, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was up 75 points, or 0.2% at 33,661, while the S&P 500 was up 0.1%, but the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.2%.
FOREX.com market analyst Fiona Cincotta said investors were holding back from making aggressive bets ahead of Wednesday’s consumer price index (CPI) report. She noted that recession fears were also on the rise after a series of weaker-than-expected data points in recent weeks.
“However, signs that US inflation is cooling by more than expected could help rein fears of another rate hike and recession worries,” Cincotta added.
2.30pm: Bitcoin bags $30k
Bitcoin was back above US$30,000 this afternoon, having broken that level for the first time in 10 months in Asian trading, sending short liquidations spiralling to US$50mln and opening the possibility for a move above 31k if the bulls remain galvanised.
30k was a key target for bitcoin longs since the start of 2023, when the benchmark cryptocurrency proved itself as among the best-performing asset classes and a safe-haven play amid widespread turmoil in the traditional markets.
Year to date, BTC/USDT is over 80% higher, with yesterday’s performance alone seeing a 4.6% surge. Around 2.30pm in London, Bitcoin was trading at $30,145.
2.15pm: Trooli Yours
BT Group altnet competitor Trooli has been acquired by Agnar UK Infrastructure Ltd, a newly incorporated entity headed by French nationals Elie Nammar and Maxime Buisson of Vauban Infrastructure Partners.
Trooli’s full-fibre broadband network spans over 200,000 homes across the south of England.
Deal specifics have not been disclosed, though ISPreview noted that previous reports put a £100mln value on Trooli’s network worth.
Companies House documentation shows that Joanna Louise Fissenden remains as company secretary, but all former directors have now resigned.
Trooli DebtCo Ltd was removed as a controlling shareholder and renamed as Whippet DebtCo Ltd.
1.30pm: A quick look at some of today’s movers
Risers
GSTechnologies – up 46% to 1.6p: Shares jumped after it received verbal confirmation from the UK Financial Conduct Authority regarding the eligibility of its stablecoin application for the Regulatory Sandbox. The company anticipates a formal decision in mid-May 2023 as it continues to assist the regulator with its application review.
Block Energy – up 26% to 1.83p: Block Energy’s shares were on the front foot after it announced the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Georgia. The company said the agreement covers government support and initiatives to assist in the development of projects through data sharing, cooperation and the facilitation of meetings with national and regional large oil companies.
Oriole Resources – up 8% to 0.14p: Shares bounced as it announced a potential US$1mln investment into its new sub-holding company NewCo. NewCo has been created to manage Oriole’s five Eastern Central Licence Package (CLP) gold licences in Cameroon, with the funding expected to be secured in the second quarter of this year from a Canadian investment bank. The bank would gain a 10% interest in NewCo, Oriole said, with the investment earmarked “for gold exploration, funding the company’s proposed work programme” and enabling it “to pursue other funding opportunities”.
Fallers
Devolver Digital – down 6% to 30p: Shares fell to a new low of 29p before rebounding slightly after the indie games publisher and developer reported lower profits than expected due to non-cash impairments for under-performing games released in the past year. A group-wide assessment was made of the commercial viability, carrying value and future prospects of each of its existing games and those in development, resulting in a further US$22.3mln in non-cash impairments to the carrying value of IP and US$47.7mln of non-cash impairments to balance sheet goodwill of previous acquisitions.
1.03pm: Modest gains seen on Wall Street
Wall Street is likely to open higher on Tuesday as investors await an inflation report that will set help determine the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision, while the start of earnings season later this week will provide an indication of the health of the banking sector.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 0.2% in pre-market trading while those for the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.3% and contracts for the Nasdaq-100 added 0.4%.
After a volatile session, the main US benchmarks ended largely flat on Monday as investors returned from the Easter long weekend still digesting March’s non-farm payroll report. The DJIA closed 0.3% up at 33,587, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 4 points to 12,084 and the S&P 500 added 4 points to 4,109.
“It was the first opportunity that investors had to react to the non-farm payrolls figure, which was released on Good Friday,” commented Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor.
“The reading of 236,000 was in line with expectations, with a moderate fall in the unemployment rate to 3.5% from a previous 3.6%. There was also a slight decline in wage inflation, all of which left the consensus unchanged that the Federal Reserve would persist with its hiking policy for now and raise rates by 0.25% at the upcoming May meeting.”
Hunter noted that this week promises to uncover further clues with a busy economic and corporate calendar in sight.
“Consumer price and producer price index data will provide fresh updates on the Fed’s battle against inflation, and at the end of the week the first quarter earnings season begins in earnest as three of the larger banks report results,” he added.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), out on Wednesday, is expected to show headline inflation rose 0.2% in March from February’s 0.4% month-over-month gain, and at an annual rate of 5.2% from 6% in February.
“The banks will be an early test of investors’ mettle on any number of fronts, not least of which will be the early fallout from the recent banking turmoil, as JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup open the season,” Hunter said.
“In particular, loan growth will be scrutinised and could prove to be tepid in view of tightening lending conditions, while there will also be a close eye on any increase in souring loans, given the slowing economy,” he continued.
“In turn, this could lead banks to increase provisions for bad debts once more, with the additional pressures of a deal-making drought and trading volatility also potentially weighing on earnings.”
12.25pm: Jefferies puts likely success of Glencore merger with Teck at less than 50%
Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) ticked higher along with other mining stocks today. Jefferies has been assessing the likelihood of its move for Teck succeeding along with the FTSE 100-listed company’s options should it not.
The broker puts the probability of success in Glencore’s plans to merge with Teck at less than 50%. It highlighted a number of reasons:
1) the additional premium that Glencore can economically justify is small (Jefferies expects a 10% bump as a final offer);
2) Teck’s management has made a strong (but debatable) argument against the strategic and economic benefits of this merger;
3) Teck’s controlling Class A shareholders may reject an offer from Glencore at any price;
4) valuation for the combined de-merged, large listed coal company would be an issue due to ESG factors and concerns about thermal coal fundamentals;
and 5) regulatory approvals will be difficult.
Nevertheless the broker thinks Glencore’s management move to merge with Teck and then de-merge the combined company’s coal business as a separate listed entity has effectively “let the cat out of the bag”.
At this point, Jefferies believes a coal spin for Glencore becomes probable, with or without Teck.
The broker estimates a coal spin could unlock trapped value from the Glencore structure while it also thinks the firm will also continue to hunt for M&A opportunities as there is a compelling argument to buy rather than build.
Jefferies doesn’t see Glencore a bid target itself.
“While we cannot rule it out entirely, we believe it is highly unlikely that Glencore becomes a target for BHP or any other miner (note that the companies have not commented on these media reports). However, we do see value in Glencore as a standalone” analysts at the broker wrote.
Jefferies has a buy rating and 650p per share price target for Glencore with shares trading up 2.3% at 467.75p each.
12.05pm: Eurozone retail sales fall in February
Eurozone retail sales decreased in February, figures from Eurostat showed today.
In February, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade decreased by 0.8% on a monthly basis in the euro area, in line with consensus expectations.
Euro area #RetailTrade -0.8% in February 2023 over January, -3.0% compared with February 2022 https://t.co/3HlBp39Mlg pic.twitter.com/35tfZy00ly
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) April 11, 2023
Retail trade volumes had increased by 0.8% in January from December. Year-on-year, retail sales decreased by 3.0% in the euro area, a smaller fall than the FXstreet cited consensus of 3.5%.
Retail trade volumes had increased by 0.8% in January from December.
Year-on-year, retail sales decreased by 3.0% in the euro area, a smaller fall than the FXstreet cited consensus of 3.5%.
11.45am: Investor bets against NatWest
Marshall Wace has built the biggest short-selling bet against NatWest ever recorded by the City regulator as fears about the health of the global banking system cause turbulence in shares throughout the sector.
Disclosures to the Financial Conduct Authority, reported by The Times, show that Marshall Wace, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds with about US$61bn of assets, has taken a 0.61% net short position in shares of the taxpayer-backed lender.
It is the largest short in NatWest stock reported to the FCA, which since 2012 has required funds to disclose short bets above a certain threshold, analysis by The Times shows.
Marshall Wace disclosed that it was building a short against NatWest last month, when panic spread through markets about the health of the banking system.
Shares in the bank were holding firm in line with the overall market, up 0.5%. The FTSE 100 remains firmer but has slipped from earlier highs, now up 17 points.
11.24am: Kazakh government takes major oil companies to court
Kazakhstan has begun international arbitration court proceedings against energy majors including ExxonMobil and Shell over US$16.5bn in costs deducted from the revenues from two oilfields, according to AFP.
The Kazakh government “has begun international arbitration against the Karachaganak and Kashagan (operating) companies,” Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliev was quoted by the official news agency Kazinform as saying, adding that “the sums are US$3.5bn and USD13bn”.
Kashagan, which lies in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, is one of the world’s largest offshore fields, with estimated reserves of 13bn barrels of oil.
Discovered in 2000, the oil field has faced endless delays owing to technical problems.
Kazakhstan last month filed a claim against the field’s operator for environmental protection fines for allegedly violating rules on sulphur storage at the site.
10.52am: WPP confirms KKR investment in FGS
WPP PLC (LSE:WPP) has confirmed that global investment firm KKR has taken a stake in FGS Global which values the strategic advisory and communications consultancy at US$1.43bn.
Following the investment, WPP will remain the majority owner of the company, and FGS Global employees will remain substantial shareholders.
Golden Gate Capital which has been a shareholder in FGS Global since 2016, will exit its investment through the sale of its interest to KKR.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third quarter of 2023.
FGS Global has 1,300 experts around the world advising clients in navigating complex situations and reputational challenges.
It was created through the combination of leading strategic communications and public affairs firms Finsbury, The Glover Park Group, Hering Schuppener and Sard Verbinnen & Co.
The strategic partnership with KKR will help to drive the continued growth of FGS Global, WPP said in a statement.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “We are delighted to welcome KKR as a new strategic partner in FGS Global, in a transaction that recognises the tremendous value of the business and its potential for continued strong growth.”
Shares in WPP were 0.5% higher in London at 937.80p while the FTSE 100 is 0.4% higher at 7,771.
10.30am: Spirax-Sarco slips after UBS downgrade
Bucking the firmer market trend are shares in Spirax-Sarco Engineering (LSE:SPX) PLC which fell 1.4% after UBS downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.
The Swiss bank sees a less favourable risk/reward in the near-term.
“To meet our lowered FY23 forecasts short-cycle high-margin BioPharma orders need to recover in 2H, but visibility on destocking is limited,” analysts at the bank wrote.
The broker continues to like the long-term opportunities to drive above-IP growth and margin expansion across the group, but sees limited upside risk against a heightened downside risk near-term.
UBS also cut its 12-month price target to 12,470p from 13,700p.
Overall, equities remain in a more buoyant frame of mind, with the FTSE 100 up 29 points and the FTSE 250 up 145 points. The gains have extended to the AIM- All-Share index which has risen 0.6%.
9.38am: CBI boss Tony Danker fired over misconduct claims
Tony Danker, the head of the CBI, one of the UK’s leading business organisations, has been dismissed with immediate effect following an investigation into specific complaints of workplace misconduct against him.
He will be replaced by Rain Newton-Smith, a former CBI chief economist.
The CBI’s board said in a statement: “The Board wishes to make clear he is not the subject of any of the more recent allegations in The Guardian but has determined that his own conduct fell short of that expected of the Director General.”
The CBI added that three other CBI employees are now suspended pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations.
Boss of UK business group CBI Tony Danker sacked after complaints of his misconduct at work and three other people suspended https://t.co/1eIx4bL76f
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) April 11, 2023
Danker stepped aside as CBI chief in early March, after the Guardian approached the CBI about a formal complaint that was made in January.
Further allegations have since been made against other members of CBI management while a number of leading UK companies called for urgent action at the business lobbying group.
9.25am: IMF predicts rates will fall back sharply
Interest rates are set to fall back to levels seen before the outbreak of Covid-19 once inflation has been tamed, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Ahead of its Spring meeting economists at the think tank have looked at the ‘natural rate of interest’ and concluded the recent increases in real interest rates are “likely to be temporary”, due to factors such as sluggish productivity growth and ageing populations.
They predict the natural rates in advanced economies “will likely remain low”, while those in emerging markets are likely to drop towards those levels.
The recent uptick in interest rates is likely to be temporary. Our latest World Economic Outlook blog explains why. https://t.co/6wzvAgnamL #WEO pic.twitter.com/Oxup4Q72cW
— IMF (@IMFNews) April 10, 2023
That would mean interest rates would fall towards the lows seen in the pandemic.
The IMF said: “When inflation is brought back under control, advanced economies’ central banks are likely to ease monetary policy and bring real interest rates back towards pre-pandemic levels.”
“How close to those levels will depend on whether alternative scenarios involving persistently higher government debt and deficits, or financial fragmentation materialize.”
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 is holding steady, now up 30 points.
9.00am: FTSE holds firm, housebuilders given a lift by Barclays
The Footsie remains well in the green but off earlier highs standing 33 points higher at 7,775.
Richard Hunter at interactive investor noted “UK markets returned after a long holiday weekend in buoyant mood, with the main indices displaying strength given the benign backdrop of other global markets’ performances.”
Investors took heart from a fall in China’s annual inflation rate to 0.7% in March, its lowest reading since September 2021, while producer price inflation also fell for the sixth month in a row on the back of softer commodity prices.
While stocks in China ended flat other Asian markets advanced on hopes the rebound in the Chinese economy would continue.
Mining stocks remain in favour in London, while retailers and housebuilders are also in demand.
Housebuilders were given a boost by positive comments by Barclays which upgraded Persimmon and rejigged price targets for a number of others in the sector.
The broker has upgraded Persimmon to equal weight from underweight but lowered its price target to 1300p from 1360p.
“We believe ’23 consensus is now overly conservative and it’s priced for long-term erosion of its historical ROIC outperformance,” Barclays said.
“The housing market continues to hold up slightly better than we had feared, leading us to be slightly less bearish on trough earnings,” it added.
Barclays had raised its price target for Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV) (overweight) to 570p from 509p, for Bellway (equal weight) to 2,330 p from 2,250p, for Taylor Wimpey (overweight) to 131p from 125p and for Vistry PLC (underweight) to 740p from 625p.
Shares in Persimmon, Barratt, Bellway, Taylor and Vistry rose 1.8%, 1.4%, 1.4%, 1.4% and 1% respectively.
8.15am: FTSE 100 in upbeat mood
The FTSE 100 made a strong start to trading after the long weekend testing the 7,800 mark once more with mining stocks leading the way.
At 8.15am London’s lead index was up 49.91 points or 0.6% at 7,791.47 while the broader FTSE 250 advanced to 18,913.19, up 116.16 points, or 0.6%.
Gains in US blue chips on Monday, while London remained closed, provided support as did the rising oil price which pushed shares in index heavyweights BP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) higher.
Brent crude increased 0.7% to US$84.75/barrel ahead of the release of data on US crude inventories, which analysts expect to show a contraction.
BP shares rose 1.3% as it also announced it had joined forces with Harbour Energy to develop the Viking carbon capture transportation and storage (CCS) project in the Humber.
Under the deal, Harbour Energy will continue as operator of Viking CCS with a 60% holding while BP will take a 40% non-operated stake.
Harbour Energy shares advanced 0.9% while Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) was 1.1% to the good.
Mining stocks also rose with Glencore, Anglo-American and Rio Tinto all prominent risers.
Elsewhere, figures from the latest BRC-KPMG survey showed total UK retail sales rose 5.1% in March against the previous year, slowing from an increase of 5.2% in February.
This was above the three-month average growth of 4.8%, as well as the 12-month average of 2.6%.
Like-for-like retail sales advanced 4.9% in March against the previous year, unchanged from February ahead of the three-month and 12-month averages of 4.6% and 2.1% respectively.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of British Retail Consortium said: “While the wettest March in over forty years dampened sales growth for fashion, gardening and DIY products, Mother’s Day brightened up sales for the month.”
But Gabriella Dickens at Pantheon Macroeconomics March’s said the data suggested the recovery in retail sales that occurred during the first two months of the year has faltered.
“After seasonally adjusting and deflating the BRC’s total sales data, we think that it is consistent with around a 1.0% month-to-month fall in the official measure of retail sales volumes,” she said.
She explained this makes sense given the continued weakness of consumers’ confidence and the ongoing squeeze on real disposable incomes from high inflation and rising interest rates.
Retail stocks were generally a firm feature with Next PLC (LSE:NXT) up 1.6%, Marks and Spencer PLC up 2.5% and ASOS PLC (LSE:ASC) up 3.8%.
7.52am: Retail sales remain resilient in March – BRC
UK retail sales continued to grow in March but at a marginally slower pace than February according to figures British Retail Consortium-KPMG.
Total UK retail sales rose 5.1% in March against the previous year, slowing from an increase of 5.2% in February.
This was above the three-month average growth of 4.8%, as well as the 12-month average of 2.6%.
Like-for-like (LFL) retail sales advanced 4.9% in March against the previous year, unchanged from February ahead of the three-month and 12-month averages of 4.6% and 2.1% respectively.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of British Retail Consortium said: “While the wettest March in over forty years dampened sales growth for fashion, gardening and DIY products, Mother’s Day brightened up sales for the month.
“With consumer confidence edging up and big events on the horizon such as the King’s Coronation, retailers have reason for a spring in their step.
“However, extensive cost pressures on business remains, and government must ensure it minimises incoming regulatory burdens.”
Food sales increased 8.5% against the previous year on both a total and LFL basis over the three months to March.
Non-food sales increased 1.8% on a total basis and 1.4% on a LFL basis against the previous year over the three months to March.
7.38am: AstraZeneca simplifies RSV agreement in the US
AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN), Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) and Sanofi have updated and simplified their agreements relating to the development and commercialisation of nirsevimab in the US.
Nirsevimab is designed to protect newborns and infants during their first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and for children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease.
Under the new arrangements, Sobi has entered into a direct relationship with Sanofi, replacing the previous participation agreement with AstraZeneca agreed in November 2018.
Under the previous deal AstraZeneca had to provision the risk-adjusted value of the discounted cash flow of future payments to be made to Sobi as a liability.
As a result of this simpler agreement, AstraZeneca will record a gain of US$0.7bn, to be recognised in core other operating income in 2023.
The Anglo-Swedish pharma giant said this does not impact financial guidance for 2023.
Harbour Energy PLC (LSE:HBR) and BP PLC (LSE:BP.) have joined forces to develop the Viking CCS transportation and storage project.
Under the deal, Harbour Energy will continue as operator of Viking CCS with a 60% holding while BP will snap up a 40% non-operated stake.
Located close to the Humber, Viking CCS has the potential to meet one-third. of the UK Government’s target to capture and store up to 30mln tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030, a statement from both oil firms and gas firms said.
The announcement follows the Government’s recent decision to launch Track 2 of its CCS cluster sequencing process, and its recognition that Viking CCS is one of two leading transport and storage system contenders for this process.
The delivery of the Viking project could unlock up to £7bn of investment across the full CO2 capture, transport, and storage value chain over the next decade, creating over 10,000 jobs during construction, and providing an estimated £4bn of gross value add to the Humber and its surrounding areas, Harbour and BP said.
The two groups already share an interest in the Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System pipeline which is intended to be repurposed as part of the project which provides a low-cost opportunity to connect customers to the depleted Viking gas fields.
Viking CCS also has access to a planned new CO2 shipping terminal at Associated British Ports’ Port of Immingham to help ship CO2 elsewhere in the UK or internationally.
Subject to the outcome of the Track 2 Cluster Sequencing Process, a final investment decision is expected in 2024.
The project could be operational as early as 2027 and potentially storing up to 10mln tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.
Linda Z Cook, CEO of Harbour Energy, commented: “Viking CCS has the potential to unlock billions of pounds of investment across the full CCS value chain and is crucial for the UK to meet its emissions reduction targets.”
7.00am: Strong early progress expected for Footsie
The FTSE 100 is expected to make a bright start after the Easter break retesting the 7,800 mark.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index up by around 58 points.
While European markets were closed Monday, US stocks ended mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 0.3%, the S&P 500 rising 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite ending marginally lower.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 1.3% after Japan’s new central bank chief said that no major rate hikes were on the horizon, and that a long-standing loose monetary policy remained “appropriate”.
But in China, share prices slipped after discouraging economic data. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was marginally lower.
China’s consumer price index rose at its slowest pace in 18 months in March, as the country’s recovery from years of zero-Covid curbs remains uneven.
The 0.7% year-on-year rise in CPI fell short of analyst expectations for an increase of 1%, driven by falling food prices, and was the slowest rate since September 2021.
In London, the corporate diary is looking fairly quiet while the latest BRC sales data will provide an early focus.
