The latest Market Talks covering Energy and Utilities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0815 GMT – The FTSE 100 Index gains 0.3%, or 19 points to 7653 as gains for utility and drug stocks offset losses for
and industrial shares.
and
are among the biggest risers while
and
also advance. RS Group tops the fallers, down 5% after the electronics distributor reported slower fourth-quarter revenue momentum, though it forecast full-year adjusted operating profit slightly ahead of consensus expectations.
Smiths,
and
are also among the biggest fallers. (philip.waller@wsj.com)
0659 GMT –
shares should be well supported by news that the Spanish company is selling 13 power plants to the Mexican government in a deal worth $6 billion,
Citi’s
Jenny Ping and Margherita Cristiana Sponza say in a note. Iberdrola, which is the largest private electricity generation company in Mexico, said the agreement is for 8,539 megawatts of capacity. The deal significantly reduces the energy giant’s exposure to Mexico following the country’s move to limit foreign energy companies influence, while it also comes with “a healthy valuation” that will help reduce net debt, according to the U.S. bank. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0514 GMT – S-Oil could return to an operating profit in 1Q, Hi Investment & Securities analyst Yujin Jeon says in a research note. Wider refining margins and narrower inventory losses likely helped the South Korea-based oil refiner, controlled by Saudi Aramco, post an operating profit of KRW470 billion in 1Q, following the prior quarter’s KRW158 billion loss, he reckons. Regional oil supply could remain tight from 2Q, as China reduces oil exports to meet domestic demand following its reopening and Europe seeks alternative oil in Asia after banning Russian oil, he adds. The brokerage maintains its buy rating and KRW130,000 target on…
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