Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
HSBC reported a surprise slide in quarterly earnings on Tuesday, despite a spike in net interest income, on the back of higher credit impairments. Pre-tax profits at the lender fell to $9.4bn, down from $9.5bn a year previously, missing forecasts of roughly $9.6bn. HSBC also warrned that expected credit losses had risen by $400m to $1.3bn during Q1, following a loss relating to British fraud case, Middle East tensions and increased trade tariffs.
Budget carrier Wizz Air said passenger numbers had grown 21.9pc April, with the Hungarian airline carrying 6.63m people last month. Wizz Air also said capacity had risen 23.1% to 7.46m seats, while April's load factor came to 88.9% - down 0.9 percentage points year-on-year.
Plus500 said it remains confident in its outlook for FY26 following a better-than-expected performance in its first trading quarter. In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting, Plus500 said it had entered the year with strong momentum across both its OTC and non-OTC businesses.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Jaguar Land Rover would have considered moving car production out of the UK and slashing jobs if not for a £380m subsidy for its sister battery company, government officials claimed privately. Officials at the Department for Business and Trade warned in December that Britain's largest automotive employer may have triggered an exodus from the UK car industry, according to state aid documents prepared by the competition regulator. – Guardian
Elon Musk settled the US Securities and Exchange Commission's civil lawsuit accusing the world's richest person of waiting too long in 2022 to disclose his initial purchases of stock in Twitter, now known as X. A trust in Musk's name will pay a $1.5m civil penalty, without admitting wrongdoing. Musk won't have to give up any money he allegedly saved from the delay. The settlement was disclosed on Monday in the Washington DC federal court. – Guardian
The war in Iran is set to push a further 200,000 households into poverty, top economists have warned. Rising energy bills, petrol prices and food costs will all put pressure on family finances, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. At the same time, an economic slowdown will undermine pay growth and lead to a rise in unemployment, reducing incomes and worsening living standards across the economy, particularly for the poorest households. – Telegraph
Labour's assault on landlords has been met with a plunge in rental homes in London, with a fifth fewer properties on the market. The number of homes advertised to rent in the capital in the first three months of this year has fallen by 21.7% compared with two years ago, just before Labour came to power. – Telegraph
The American video game retailer at the heart of the so-called meme stock trading frenzy during the Covid pandemic has made an audacious $55.5bn takeover bid for eBay. Shares in eBay rose by more than 5% in New York on Monday after GameStop announced an unsolicited cash-and-stock offer of $125-a-share for the much bigger ecommerce business, which said it was reviewing the bid, including its suitor's ability "to deliver a binding, actionable proposal". – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed lower on Monday after the United Arab Emirates claimed that Iran had launched drones and missiles against it, putting an already fragile ceasefire between the US/Israel alliance and Iran at risk.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.13% at 48,941.90, while the S&P 500 shed 0.41% to 7,200.75 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.19% softer at 25,067.80
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com