Headlines from the Proactive UK newsroom.
The FTSE 100 failed to join in the rush of buying seen on Wall Street overnight, where US markets have now erased all of 2020’s losses. London’s blue-chip index dipped 44 to 6.428.
US share prices surged despite the country officially being declared in recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research made the designation on Tuesday.
UK retail sales rallied in May though still fell again. The British Retail Consortium said total retail spending was 5.9% lower than a year earlier, compared to the 19.1% drop in April.
British American Tobacco was under the weather after it cut this year’s sales forecast due to the lack of airport duty-free sales and longer than expected lockdowns in some emerging markets. The Lucky Strike and Rothmans owner now expects revenue growth of between 1-3% for 2020.
Bellway PLC (LON:BWY) says there had been a gradual increase in customer interest since it reopened its sales centres at the start of June. The housebuilder, though, expects sales to remain subdued until all lockdown restrictions are lifted.
S & U PLC (LON:SUS) also said it is seeing activity levels in its motor finance and property bridging businesses starting to return towards normal levels as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown eases. Its Advantage Finance car loan business was heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Bahamas Petroleum has been awarded the AREA OFF-1 petroleum licence offshore Uruguay. OFF-1 contains a management estimated resource potential of up to 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE), based on current mapping.