Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Recruitment firm Hays said it had appointed interim CEO Mark Dearnley to the post on a permanent basis. Prior to being appointed interim CEO in February, Dearnley was Hays chief digital and technology officer having joined from Inchcape.
Anglo American said it has agreed to sell its portfolio of steelmaking coal mines in Australia to private UK-registered mining company Dhilmar for up to $3.9bn. The price comprises an upfront cash consideration of $2.3bn payable at completion and a price-linked earnout of up to $1.6bn. Anglo said it will use the proceeds to reduce net debt.
Standard Chartered has appointed its head of investor relations, Manus Costello, as its permanent new chief financial officer with immediate effect. Costello will take over from interim finance lead Pete Burrill, who has been in the role since February following the abrupt exit of Diego De Giorgi. Standard Chartered also announced the appointment of Tanuj Kapilashrami as chief operating officer.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The worsening fallout from the Iran war is forcing businesses to halt their UK investment and hiring plans, bosses have warned, as Britain enters a renewed period of political and economic instability. More than two months into the US-Israeli war on Iran, leading surveys of UK employers showed companies were increasingly prioritising cost management over growth as rising costs and global uncertainty weigh on confidence. – Guardian
UK business leaders have warned that crime is becoming an increasingly “serious barrier” to growing Britain’s economy amid a rise in shoplifting, fraud and cyber-attacks against companies. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents tens of thousands of businesses across the country, called on the government to provide “a step change in the support businesses can count on” as it said two-fifths of companies had experienced some form of crime in the past year. – Guardian
Thames Water’s investors are scrambling to win approval for their rescue deal amid fears that the Labour leadership race will paralyse the Government and derail talks. The struggling utility’s creditors are nearing an agreement with water regulator Ofwat on a more than £10bn rescue plan and are urging ministers to waste no time in backing the deal once it is secured. – Telegraph
Drivers are being chased for unpaid fines from Britain’s biggest car park operator even after it collapsed into insolvency. National Car Parks (NCP), which ran 340 car parks across the UK, had a backlog of almost 100,000 unpaid parking charge notices when it went bust in March. Around 15,000 of these were awaiting processing by debt collectors, while a further 80,000 fines dating back years had not been pursued. – Telegraph
EY is believed to have paid more than £100 million to settle the High Court claim brought by the administrators of NMC Health, a former FTSE 100 company that collapsed amid an alleged fraud scandal. The big four audit firm and the healthcare provider reached a confidential settlement in February after a long-running legal battle. A new report by Alvarez & Marsal, the administrators, shows that NMC has received £105.5 million in relation to the resolution of litigation. – The Times
The UK has the highest property taxes of any major economy, leaving the public finances vulnerable to a downturn in investment and real estate valuations. Property taxes make up 3.7 per cent of the total economy — the highest level in the group of advanced economies, according to comparisons compiled by Ryan, a tax firm. – The Times
US CLOSE
Wall Street's three benchmark equity indices dropped more than 1% each on Friday, pulling back sharply after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs the previous session, as a surge in bond yields to a one-year high hammered investors' appetite for risk.
The yield on a 10-year US Treasury jumped 11.5 basis points to 4.604% by the close of play in New York, hitting highs not seen since last May, amid speculation that the Federal Reserve will soon have to tighten monetary policy to fight rising inflationary pressures tied to the Iran war. The rise in yield came despite US economic data coming in much stronger than expected.
The result was a sharp drop in equity prices across the board, with the Dow falling 1.1% from a three-month high and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq plunging 1.2% and 1.5% respectively.