Wall Street rallies, as UK wage growth accelerates. Shares have opened higher on Wall Street, as investors try to put last week’s turmoil behind them. The Dow has jumped by 233 points, or 0.9%, with the Nasdaq streaking 1.2% higher. Today’s decent results from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs seem to be shoring up confidence in New York. US industrial production rose by 0.3% in September, boosted by gains in manufacturing and mining, beating forecasts of 0.2% growth. That’s down on August’s 0.4%. The Federal Reserve also said manufacturing output increased 0.2% in September after rising 0.3% in August. Sterling has jumped by half a cent this morning, following today’s unexpectedly strong wage growth. This has pushed the pound up to $1.321, recovering last week’s Brexit-induced losses.
WPP in talks to buy FT’s London HQ in £90m-plus deal. One Southwark Bridge could become ad group’s head office in break from Sorrell era. WPP (WPP) is in advanced talks to buy the Financial Times’s London headquarters for more than £90m in another significant break from the Sir Martin Sorrell era. The media and advertising group is understood to be close to striking a deal for the building, as new its chief executive, Mark Read, continues to ring the changes after the company founder’s abrupt resignation in April. The FT is due to vacate the building next year, to return to its previous offices at Bracken House near St Paul’s Cathedral.
UK in-store contactless payments overtake chip and pin – Worldpay Group (WPG). June analysis has 51% of such transactions being contactless, rising to 52% in July. Contactless payments are now more popular than chip and pin card transactions when people pay in UK stores, according to the payments technology company Worldpay. The company, which processes payments for large retailers as well as small businesses, said it was the first time it had seen “tap and go” contactless payments overtake chip and pin. The switchover happened in June, according to Worldpay, which said 51% of in-store card transactions in that month were contactless, rising further to 52% in July. Contactless usage jumped by around 30% in stores between June 2017 and June 2018, according to Worldpay’s analysis of its data.
Superdry issues profit warning after sales fall in heatwave. Fashion chain’s shares fall after it reveals it sold fewer sweatshirts and jackets. Superdry (SDRY) has been hit by this summer’s heatwave and the warm autumn weather, forcing the fashion chain known for its branded tops to issue a profit warning, sending its shares sharply lower. The company struggled to sell sweatshirts and jackets, which account for 45% of its annual sales, because of the “unseasonably hot weather” in the UK, continental Europe and on the east coast of the US. Superdry, which shot to prominence when David Beckham wore one of its Osaka 6 T-shirts on the cover of his 2005 calendar, said the impact of the weather combined with difficult high street conditions would reduce profits up to the end of April 2019 by £10m. It also warned that its hedging against currency movements had not worked out as expected, leading to £8m in additional costs. Before the profit warning, analysts were forecasting underlying pre-tax profits of £107.1m to £111.6m.
Royal Mail staff lose out after profit warning hits share price. About 140,000 postal workers now eligible to sell shares they were given at privatisation. Royal Mail (RMG) staff selling their shares on Monday lost about £850 each after a profit warning a fortnight ago sparked a sharp fall in the share price. About 140,000 postal staff have been waiting to sell the free shares they received when the company was privatised five years ago. Monday was the first day they could sell without paying tax or national insurance. The shares have lost nearly 30% of their value since Royal Mail shocked the City with a profit warning on 1 October and are now trading at 338p, just above the flotation price of 330p. They were standing at 477p before the profits warning, compared with a peak of 631p reached in May.
