Stock market news has been eclipsed by the US election this week, with world markets gaining. By midday Friday, the FTSE 100 stood at 5,892 points, 5.6% higher. That’s despite the impact of a second national Covid-19 lockdown in England. And it’s not clear whether the downtrend that started in June is set to continue or end. As it stands, the FTSE 100 is down 22% so far in 2020.
Ryanair confirmed the dire state of the airline industry, reporting a 70% fall in October traffic. Due to the pandemic, the airline carried only 4.1m passengers in the month, compared to 13.8m in October 2019.
The full first half saw traffic fall by 80% to 17m, though that included the almost total lockdown of Ryanair’s fleet in March and June. The company reported a loss for the first six months of €197m. The Ryanair share price? Despite a big early fall, it’s now down only 11% year-to-date. Nice if you got in at the worst of the dip.
Mixed retail stock market news
Stock market news from the retail sector must be keenly awaited these days. We had some, and it was mixed. Marks & Spencer called in a pre-tax loss of £87.6m on Wednesday, its first ever. Just as we’re facing increased pressure on shopping in the important lead-up to Christmas.
But online sales grew by 34%, which went some way to lessening the firm’s overall 15.8% sales drop. And the company’s food business made an operating profit of £109.7m, 19% up on last year. The tie-up with Ocado seems to be bearing fruit, through many investors thought M&S paid too much at the time. The M&S share price is up 6% since the results, but still down 54% year-to-date.
Meanwhile, Superdry revealed a 23% fall in first-half revenue, with store revenue down 45%. A big jump in online sales of 50% helped offset the slump. The firm says its brand reset is progressing. The stock market news from the clothing business is still not encouraging.
Over at Associated British Foods, full-year revenue fell 12%, to £13.9bn. It’s largely due to the closure of Primark during the lockdown, which the firm reckons cost it around £2bn in sales and £650m in profit. But, thanks to its range of food businesses, ABF still recorded an adjusted pre-tax profit of £914m. That’s down 34%, but diversification has provided some safety. ABF shares fell 6% in response, and the price is now down 36% in 2020.
Food sales up, share price down
J Sainsbury revealed its first-half results amid Thursday’s stock market news, and the share price has dropped 4.6%, even though total sales grew by 7.1%. Underlying profit did beat analysts’ forecasts though, reaching £301m.
The downer appears to be the news that the company is to close around 80% of its standalone Argos stores, with a possible loss of up to 3,500 jobs. So far this year, the Sainsbury share price is down 13%, with Argos dragging down what could otherwise be a defensive business.
Stock market news would hardly be complete without something pharmaceutical these days, and AstraZeneca obliged on Thursday with a Q3 update. The company is in line to meet full-year expectations, with year-to-date revenue up 8% and core EPS reported to be up 13%. The share price remains steady, comfortably ahead 10% in 2020.
We still don’t know who’ll be the next US President. But worldwide market reaction at least suggests improved market sentiment.
