The Times - UK (2020-09-15)

the times | Tuesday September 15 2020 1GM 43

MarketsBusiness

Exchange rates

Bank sells Bank buys

Australia $ 1.665 1.915

Canada $ 1.597 1.837

Denmark Kr 7.568 8.632

Euro ¤ 1.031 1.178

Hong Kong $ 9.372 10.656

Hungary 348.651 423.775

Indonesia 17456.900 21885.300

Israel Shk 4.142 4.855

Japan Yen 127.209 146.884

New Zealand $ 1.814 2.144

Norway Kr 10.859 12.563

Poland 4.345 5.303

Russia 85.985 103.258

S Africa Rd 20.091 23.725

Sweden Kr 10.645 11.973

Switzerland Fr 1.102 1.278

Turkey Lira 9.175 10.724

USA $ 1.225 1.395

Rates for banknotes as traded by Royal Bank of

Scotland plc yesterday

Dollar rates

Australia 1.3701-1.3703

Canada 1.3173-1.3173

Denmark 6.2674-6.2679

Euro 0.8424-0.8424

Hong Kong 7.7499-7.7504

Japan 105.68-105.68

Malaysia 4.1430-4.1480

Norway 9.0170-9.0277

Singapore 1.3635-1.3637

Sweden 8.7663-8.7693

Switzerland 0.9074-0.9074

Other Sterling

Argentina peso 96.716-96.726

Australia dollar 1.7643-1.7645

Bahrain dinar 0.4820-0.4885

Brazil real 6.7987-6.8025

Euro 1.0846-1.0848

Hong Kong dollar 9.9788-9.9801

India rupee 94.543-94.553

Indonesia rupiah 19084-19117

Kuwait dinar KD 0.3923-0.3945

Malaysia ringgit 5.3306-5.3370

New Zealand dollar 1.9179-1.9183

Singapore dollar 1.7557-1.7560

S Africa rand 21.440-21.452

U A E dirham 4.7334-4.7336

Money rates %

Base Rates Clearing Banks 0.10 ECB Refi -0.50 US Fed Fd 0.00-0.25

Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.74

Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.002; 3 mth 0.005. Sell: 1 mth -0.010; 3 mth 0.000

1 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth

Interbank Rates 0.0509 0.0553 0.0570 0.0808 0.1634

Eurodollar Deps 0.05-0.25 0.06-0.26 0.09-0.29 0.12-0.32 0.25-0.45

Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month

Copenhagen 8.0401-8.0833 8.0702-8.0714 29ds 106ds

Euro 1.0867-1.0811 1.0847-1.0846 5pr 14pr

Montreal 1.6863-1.7005 1.6961-1.6964 1pr 3pr

New York 1.2790-1.2914 1.2876-1.2877 2pr 6pr

Oslo 11.539-11.621 11.618-11.622 4pr 14pr

Stockholm 11.211-11.315 11.288-11.292 24ds 72ds

Tokyo 135.77-136.56 136.08-136.09 4ds 10ds

Zurich 1.1631-1.1701 1.1683-1.1685 9ds 26ds

Premium = pr Discount = ds

Sterling spot and forward rates

London Grain Futures

LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)

Nov 176.50 Jan unq Mar unq
May unq Jul unq Volume: 671

London Metal Exchange

(Official)

Cash 3mth Dec 21

Copper Gde A ($/tonne)

6788.0-6788.0 6762.0-6762.0 6741.5-6741.5

Lead ($/tonne)

1873.5-1873.5 1900.0-1900.0 1938.5-1938.5

Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)

2454.5-2454.5 2476.5-2476.5 2520.5-2520.5

Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)

1749.0-1749.0 1787.5-1787.5 1866.0-1866.0

Nickel ($/tonne)

15090.0-15090.0 15134.0-15134.0 15345.0-15345.0

Tin ($/tonne) 15mth

18100.0-18100.0 18114.0-18114.0 17943.0-17943.0

Gold/Precious

metals (US dollars per ounce)

European money

deposits %

Currency

1mth 3mth 6mth 12mth

Dollar

0.13 0.20 0.29 0.55

Sterling

0.05 0.06 0.08 0.16

Euro

0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50

Bullion: Open $1942.94

Close $1956.50-1958.50 High $1962.17

Low $1939.10

AM $1942.30 PM $1958.70

Krugerrand $1937.00-2042.00 (£1504.23-1585.77)

Platinum $959.00 (£744.74)

Silver $27.21 (£21.13)

Palladium $2326.50 (£1806.71)

Data as shown is

for information

purposes only. No offer is made by

Morningstar or this publication

T

here will be no

need to fight it

out for a front-

row ticket at

Burberry’s show after

the fashion house said

that it would stream

the launch of its latest

collection on Twitch, a

coup for the video-

streaming site (Tom

Howard writes).

For now, the

pandemic has halted

the elaborate runway

shows where the rich

and famous mingle in

front of the paparazzi.

Instead, Burberry will

show its spring/

summer 2021 range by

allowing fans to watch

models strut their stuff

from the comfort of

their own homes.

Rather than chatting

over canapés and

champagne, viewers

must make do with

Twitch’s chat function.

“Twitch unlocks an

exciting new space

where our Burberry

0.4 per cent, to £118. Deutsche Bank

lifted its target price for the stock

from £102 to £118, welcoming the

“strongest of starts” following its

acquisition of Stars Group, which

created the world’s largest online

betting group in the spring.

The FTSE 250 index had a better

day than its senior sister, advancing

121.39 points, or 0.7 per cent, to

17,677.26.

Onesavings Bank, the Kent-based

specialist in mortgages for buy-to-let

landlords and small businesses, rose

4.8 per cent, or 14¼p, to 308p after

Peel Hunt lifted its earnings per share

forecasts, citing “sympathy with

better-than-expected asset volumes”.

Anyone for pizza? Browning West,

an activist hedge fund run by Usman

Nabi, has bought another £6.9 million

worth of shares in Domino’s Pizza

Group and now owns 9.5 per cent of

the business. Mr Nabi is a non-

executive director on the chain’s

board. Its shares closed up 0.3 per

cent, or 1¼p, at 348¾p.

GETTY IMAGES

Resumed trials not enough

for revival at Astrazeneca

Callum Jones Market report

S

tock markets are, in some

respects at least, simple,

straightforward beasts. When

there are questions being

asked, they like to hear solid,

definitive answers. They don’t like

uncertainty, which seems to be all

they are hearing at the moment for

prospects of a widely sought, much-

needed Covid-19 vaccine.

Thus shares in Astrazeneca,

Britain’s largest drugs company,

slipped yesterday — by 29p, or 0.3 per

cent, to £84 — even after it confirmed

at the weekend that British clinical

trials of its experimental vaccine,

which is being worked on with

researchers at the University of

Oxford, had resumed.

Last week the drugs group halted

late-stage trials of a candidate vacine

after a participant fell ill. While

Britain’s medicines safety watchdog

has approved the resumption of UK

trials, Astra’s voluntary pause to

vaccination across all its global trials

raised doubts in the City about the

speed at which such a coronavirus

treatment may be available.

Pascal Soriot, Astra’s chief

executive, insisted last week that it

was still feasible for the vaccine to

reach the market this year if global

trials resumed. For now, though, the

company continues to tread water. Its

shares, which slumped to a nine-

month low when coronavirus

concerns surged in the spring, soared

to an all-time high of £93.20 in July.

Last night they closed 10 per cent

below that summer peak.

Astra was not alone yesterday:

healthcare stocks struggled across the

board after President Trump signed a

new executive order designed to cut

drugs prices in the United States by

linking them with those charged in

other countries. Glaxosmithkline

retreated 0.5 per cent, or 8¼p, to

£15.16.

The FTSE 100 suffered a sluggish

start to the week as the pandemic

fears of recent months surrendered

the spotlight to the familiar political

apprehensions of recent years. The

index closed down 5.84 points, or

0.1 per cent, at 6,026.25 before a

parliamentary vote on government

plans to tear up parts of the Brexit

treaty with the European Union.

At the start of BP Week — the oil

major’s virtual version of Glastonbury

— it received a vote of confidence

from analysts at Credit Suisse, who

upgraded the company to

“outperform” and now prefer it to

Total, its French rival, which they

downgraded to “neutral”. Shares in

BP came under pressure, however,

falling 1.9 per cent, or 5p, to 257p after

it outlined the stark impact of Covid-

19 on oil demand.

Flutter Entertainment, the

gambling operator behind Paddy

Power and Betfair, increased 50p, or

Bold bet on Johnson Matthey

industrials

J

ohnson Matthey

was drawn into the

market spotlight

after a City brokerage

argued that the

£5 billion British

chemical technology

group was well-placed

to capitalise on a

global environmental

boom.

Stifel placed an

optimistic bet on the

FTSE 100 business,

encouraging clients to

buy the stock as it

launched coverage

with a target price of

£28.50. The average

rating is “hold”, with a

median target of £23.

The company plays

a key role in the

automotive industry,

producing catalytic

converters, which cut

pollution and

emissions from

engines, and Stifel

said the sector was

beginning to

normalise after a

devastating year.

Analysts also

highlighted Johnson

Matthey’s Efficient

Natural Resources

division, its second

largest, which they

believe will help to

provide a pathway for

countries and

corporates as they

seek to lower their

environmental

impact. The group is

moving into the

production of fuel

cells for batteries for

electric vehicles.

Johnson Matthey “is

taking proactive

measures to increase

efficiency, protect

profitability and

maintain its market

position,” Stifel said.

The company’s shares

rose 5p to end the day

at £26.10.

Catalytic converters are

the main driver for

Johnson Matthey’s sales

Wall Street report

Technology companies led an

upward march on Wall Street as

news of deals involving Oracle and

Nvidia boosted sentiment. All indices

rose, with the Dow Jones industrial

average closing on 27,993.33, up

327.69 points, or 1.2 per cent.

Company Change

G4S Rejects takeover bid from Gardaworld 25.1%
Hammerson Shares remain volatile 9.2%

International Consolidated Airlines Group Rises after turbulent summer 4.5%

Ocado Bank of America raises price objective from £22.30 to £34.60 3.9%
Compass Climbs to highest closing level in three months 3.1%

BP Outlines impact of Covid-19 on oil demand -1.9%
Fresnillo Mining sector heavyweights come under pressure -3.6%

Polymetal International Metal producers slip lower -3.8%

First Group Excitement tapers after reports of potential buyers for its American business -4.9%
Rank Continues to struggle after annual results -9.8%

The day’s biggest movers

Name Pre-tax figure

Profit (+) loss (-)

Dividend

Abcam (health FY) £8.4m (£56.4m) nil

Costain (construction HY) -£92.3m (£8.4m) nil

EKF Diagnostics (health FY) £6.25m (£2.22m) 1p p Dec 1

Iqgeo (technology HY) -£1.68m (-£3.16m) nil
Keystone Law (support HY) £1.95m (£2.43m) 6.6p p Oct 16

MJ Glesson (construction FY) £5.6m (£41.2m) nil

Silence Therapeutics (health HY) -£13.3m (-£9.59m) nil
Symphony Environmental (industrial HY) £0.018m (-£0.086m) nil

Xpediator (transport HY) £0.3m (£0.2m) 0.45p p Oct 30
6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payable

Results in brief

community can feel

like they have a virtual

seat at our live show,”

Rod Manley,

Burberry’s chief

marketing officer, said.

Burberry will be

hoping that its new

collection will help to

recoup some of the

sales lost to the

pandemic. Revenue

was down 45 per cent

between April and

June but has picked up

as its stores reopen.

Twitch, owned by

Amazon, is trying to

move away from its

roots in video gaming.

Feel twitchy

about missing

the show?