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Gambling operators and pharmaceutical firms were in focus in London early Friday in a mixed start to the last day of an eventful week that brought the promise that peak inflation has been reached.
The FTSE 100 was up 14.30 points, or 0.2%, at 7,480.21. The FTSE 250 index was down 17.86 points, or 0.1%, at 20,228.07. The AIM All-Share index was flat at 928.30.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.2% at 747.57. The Cboe 250 was down 0.1% at 17,563.33. The Cboe Small Companies was flat at 14,467.00.
In Paris, the CAC 40 stock index was up 0.3%, while in Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was 0.4% higher.
In the FTSE 100, Flutter Entertainment was the standout performer, up 9.7%. The gambling firm said it is yet to see ‘discernible signs’ of a hit to the business from falling consumer confidence.
Rival Entain was up 2.2% in a positive read-across.
In the six months to the end of June, Flutter's revenue increased 11% to £3.39 billion from £3.05 billion a year earlier. However, it swung to a pretax loss of £51 million from a £77 million profit.
Flutter reported amortisation costs increased 3.6% year-on-year to £286 million. Operating costs were 17% higher at £1.60 billion.
During the half, Flutter said it increased its average monthly players base to players to 8.7 million, 14% higher than the prior year. Flutter said the rapid expansion of its US business FanDuel was key to this growth, along with good underlying player momentum in the UK & Ireland, as well as Australia.
GSK was up 2.4%. The drugmaker said it would ‘vigorously defend all claims’ against Zantac lawsuits, after it was named as a defendant in federal litigation in the US, alongside Sanofi and Pfizer.
Fears about the heartburn treatment have hit the pharma stocks. GSK is down 13% for the week.
Ranitidine, sold under the name Zantac, was offered over-the-counter in the US by French drugmaker Sanofi and was originally manufactured by GSK. Zantac was withdrawn after the US Food & Drug Administration in 2019 warned that the product contained levels of NDMA, a probable human carcinogen - a substance which has been linked to cancer.
GSK said it has been named as a defendant in around 3,000 filed personal injury cases in US federal and state court and ‘numerous’ unfiled claims. Class actions have also been filed, it said.
Sanofi said that as of August 1, it was aware of 2,850 personal injury plaintiffs in the US. When factoring in additional Zantac cases that do not include Sanofi, this number rises to 3,450. The stock was up 0.3% in Paris.
Sanofi noted that there are other potential personal injury claimants who, in lieu of filing a court case, have instead joined a registry of ‘unfiled’ claims.
Pfizer late Thursday said it has ‘significant defences’ against Zantac litigation, while Haleon revealed it is ‘not a party’ to any claims. Pfizer lost 3.3% in New York on Thursday.
Haleon, which is down 14% this week alone, said that it is ‘not primarily liable’ for any over-the-counter or prescription claims involving Zantac. The stock was up 0.3% early Friday.
In the FTSE 250, 888 Holdings was the worst performer, down 9.5%, after the gambling firm reported a falling interim profit.
Pretax profit in the half-year to June 30 dived 66% to £14.4 million from £41.9 million a year ago.
Revenue fell to £332.1 million from £380.9 million. 888 expects revenue in the second half to be in line with the first half.
888 explained revenue was down ‘with the majority of the business seeing relatively stable revenues, offset by declines in the UK of 25% reflecting the implementation of more stringent safer gambling policies, and the closure of the Netherlands.’ Excluding the UK and Netherlands, revenue was up 2% year over year, it noted.
The dollar was higher across the board. The pound was quoted at $1.2202 early Friday, down slightly from $1.2205 at the London equities close Thursday.
The euro was priced at $1.0311, down from $1.0328. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥133.31 in London, higher against JP¥132.79.
On the economic front, the UK economy shrank marginally in the second quarter of the year from the first, according to the Office for National Statistics.
On an annual basis, UK gross domestic product expanded 2.9% in the second quarter, slowing sharply from 8.7% growth in the first quarter. The latest reading just beat the market forecast, cited by FXStreet, for growth of 2.8%.
On a quarterly basis, the UK economy contracted 0.1% in the second quarter following growth of 0.8% in the first quarter. Market consensus had pointed to a 0.2% contraction.
‘GDP growth will receive some support in July as the Jubilee bank holiday effect unwinds. However, this will just be a temporary pick up,’ commented Capital Economics. ‘Even allowing for this, we still think the economy will contract by 0.2% [quarter-on-quarter] in Q3 and that a recession is on the way later this year.’
Brent oil was quoted at $99.67 a barrel Friday morning, down from $98.87 late Thursday. Gold stood at $1,793.22 an ounce, firm against $1,789.51.
New York ended mixed on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1%, but the S&P 500 closed down 0.1% and Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%.
Data on Thursday showed the US producer price index rose by 9.8% in July on a year before, easing from an 11% annual rise in June. The latest reading was lower than the market forecast, cited by FXStreet, of 10%.
The factory price data came just a day after consumer price inflation moderated more-than-expected to an annual rate of 8.5% in July, from 9.1% in June.
Despite the data, leading Fed officials have continued to speak of the urgent need to address inflation, setting the stage for another potentially large rate hike in September.
San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly was the latest to bring markets down to earth, telling Bloomberg TV that the data were ‘significant in that they are saying that we're seeing some improvement but they're not victory’.
She added she would likely support a half-point hike at next month's meeting, but was open to a third successive three-quarter-point lift if the data showed it was needed.
Daly also tempered hopes that the bank could begin cutting borrowing costs next year if prices are brought down, and said interest rates would be held for a period before any reductions are made.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index ended up 2.6%, reopening after being closed for a holiday on Thursday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.5%.
The economic calendar on Friday has eurozone industrial production at 1000 BST and the US Michigan consumer sentiment index at 1500 BST.
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