Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Standard Chartered expects full-year income to be towards the upper end of its 5–7% growth range after reporting a rise in third-quarter earnings, driven by its wealth division. Standard Chartered said pre-tax profits grew 3% to $1.77bn. CEO Bill Withers said the Asia-focused lender now expects to hit its 13% target for underlying return on tangible equity in 2025 - a year earlier than planned.
Precision instruments supplier Spectris said on Wednesday that sales had grown by double digits in the three months ended 30 September, continuing the improvement experienced in the second quarter. Spectris said third-quarter sales were 11% higher at £302.7m on an overall basis, while like-for-like sales improved 4%. On a divisional basis, Spectris Scientific sales were 12% higher on a reported basis and Spectris Dynamics sales rose 10%.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Donald Trump has described crucial trade talks with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in South Korea as "amazing", saying their dispute over the supply of rare earths had been settled and that he would visit China in April. In early comments, Chinese state media reported Xi as saying a "consensus" with Trump had been reached on trade issues, and that there were good prospects for cooperation on trade, immigration and fraud. – Guardian
The American private equity firm seeking control of The Telegraph has said it will set up an "independent advisory board" to uphold journalistic integrity, as it faces scrutiny of its links to China. Gerry Cardinale, the managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, said he had asked Lord Black of Brentwood, Telegraph Media Group's deputy chairman, to develop proposals for how such a board might be composed and how it might work. – Telegraph
European carmakers are days away from halting production as a diplomatic spat between China and the Netherlands causes a major shortage of microchips, the industry has warned. On Wednesday, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (Acea) said companies are burning through stocks of chips made by Chinese-owned Nexperia and supplies were "rapidly dwindling". – Telegraph
Meta Platforms has taken a near $16bn one-off charge in the third quarter related to President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, briefly sending its shares sharply lower on Wall Street. The social media company, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said the bill had led the business to take a non-cash income tax charge of $15.93bn. Excluding this, Meta said its third-quarter net income would have increased by $15.93bn to $18.64bn, compared with the reported net income of $2.71bn. – The Times
Two of the Magnificent Seven technology companies beat expectations in quarterly sales from their cloud computing units as businesses continue to invest heavily in artificial intelligence services despite fears of a bubble. Alphabet's Google Cloud unit posted third-quarter revenue of $15.2bn, topping estimates of $14.7bn as AI start-ups seek to harness its computing power. Meanwhile, rival Microsoft said the Azure cloud business, its key AI unit, grew 40% in the most recent quarter, outpacing estimates of 38 %. – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve approved a second consecutive interest rate cut, lowering its benchmark borrowing rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%–4.00
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.16% at 47,632.00, while the S&P 500 was flat at 6,890.59 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.55% firmer at 23,958.47.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com