Updates from Barclays, Hikma Pharmaceutical and LondonMetric Property
The FTSE 100 soared almost 2% to 6,268.7 on Tuesday, up 122.3 points. Defence stocks were up strongly as France raised its response to the Paris attacks; Smiths Group saw the biggest leap by some margin, up 10.2% to 1020p while Rolls-Royce Holdings surged 5% to 555p. There was also an almost 4% gain for HargreavesLansdown also, up 3.8% to 1498p. However Anglo American and easyJet both fell 5% and 4% respectively.
Stateside the Dow climbed just six points to 17,489.5; little change overall as more housing and retail data were sifted. Home Depot and Wal-Mart climbed 4.4% and 3.5%.
First off this morning it's looking increasingly likely that Barclays is exposed to another foreign exchange fine - perhaps in excess of $100m. It's likely the bank will need to settle with the New York Department of Financial Services in the very near future.
Barclays already paid £300m-plus earlier in the year for foreign currency manipulation. The additional fine is still serious - though considerably lower - as it appears repeated malpractice.
TheFinancial Times says bank litigation costs since the 2008 financial crisis have hit almost $219bn with much of the financial pain taken by US banks. That financial pain is now increasingly spreading to European operations.
Next, Hikma Pharmasays it has received a letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relating to its injectables manufacturing plant in Portugal - actions in response to a former Warning Letter have been fully reviewed and accepted by the US FDA it says.
"We have worked very hard to meet the FDA's requirements and remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance across all our facilities," says Hikma boss Said Darwazah.
The company recently received an Overweight rating from JPMorgan Chase; Barclays also reiterated their Overweight rating. Hikma's share price has weakened in recent weeks.
Lastly, LondonMetric Property says it has bought a 230,000 sq ft distribution warehouse for £28.8m, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.8% and an equivalent yield of 6.4%.
LondonMetric claims the warehouse is situated in a prime distribution location on a 11.5 acre site in Reading, next to Junction 11 of the M4, in close proximity to Tesco's 1m sq ft regional hub. Other companies nearby include Royal Mail and Proctor & Gamble.
"This acquisition," says LondonMetric chief exec Andrew Jones, "is in line with our strategy of acquiring well located distribution assets that will generate real and sustainable income growth."
