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“It is not often that the market’s attention is centred on Alaska but the US state will be firmly in focus on Friday as President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin meet to discuss the Ukraine conflict,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Any outcomes will not come until after UK markets have concluded trading for the day but investors will be watching closely for signs a credible peace deal is in the offing and any outcomes could set the mood music for next week.
“Oil prices have been somewhat volatile ahead of the summit as traders seek to work out if Russian exports to Western countries might resume.
“Broadly markets seemed in an optimistic mood with the FTSE 100 making new intra-day record highs early on. The miners were in demand despite weak economic data from key commodities consumer China – in the hope this might persuade Beijing to launch further stimulus measures.
“Wall Street finished higher overnight with Intel shares in particular demand. Shareholders in the chip firm may be suffering from whiplash after seeing President Trump first call for the exit of their CEO Lip-Bu Tan at the beginning of the week before a meeting between the two and subsequent rumours the administration might take a stake in the business.
“As one of the few domestic operators capable of producing high-tech chips at scale – the company has potential strategic significance.”
Associated British Foods
“Associated British Foods will hope it can get the best of both businesses as it agrees to buy Hovis from private equity firm Endless and add it to its existing bakery holding Kingsmill.
“These brands have struggled against the market leader Warburton of late and neither is making money right now, the hope is that by combining they will be in a much stronger position.
“The danger is the regulator gets involved. Bread is a staple for most households and there might be some perceived risk that the deal would leave consumers out of pocket.
“Primark-owner ABF’s conglomerate structure has come under renewed focus this year. Its discount clothing chain has struggled a touch, as have other parts of the business including its sugar arm.
“The company, and the controlling Weston family, continue to extol the virtues of diversification but for this to be sustainable then all parts of the group need to be in reasonable shape – this deal could help put the Allied Bakeries division in a better place.”
Russ Mould: Investment Director
Russ Mould is AJ Bell's Investment Director. He has a Master's degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford and more than 30 years' experience of the capital markets.
He started out at Scottish...
