Upstream Share Discussion Threads

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 22:40

Oil prices ease as weak economic data offsets higher US winter storm heating demand
# Saudi Aramco raises crude prices for Asian buyers in February
Oil prices eased in volatile trade on Monday as some bearish economic news from the United States and Germany offset bullish support from a weaker U.S. dollar and forecasts for increased heating demand for energy from a winter storm.

After rising for five days in a row, Brent futures fell 21 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $76.30 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 40 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $73.56.

Despite those declines, both crude benchmarks remained in technically overbought territory for a third day in a row.

On Friday, Brent settled at its highest level since Oct. 14 and WTI closed at its highest since Oct. 11 due in part on expectations of more fiscal stimulus to revitalise China's faltering economy.

With interest in energy trade growing in recent weeks, open interest in WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange soared to 1.933 million contracts on Friday, the most since June 2023.

"Oil markets have entered 2025 with balanced supply-and-demand fundamentals, but with prices being propped up by enduring geopolitical tensions," analysts at Eurasia Group, a consultancy, said in a report.

"As the year progresses, oil markets will probably continue to experience low demand growth that may be outpaced by new supply, especially from the U.S. and likely OPEC as well," Eurasia Group said.

In the United States, the world's biggest economy, new orders for manufactured goods fell in November amid weakness in demand for commercial aircraft while business spending on equipment appeared to have slowed in the fourth quarter, according to data from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

In Germany, Europe's biggest economy, annual inflation rose more than forecast in December due to higher food prices and a smaller drop in energy prices than in previous months.

To combat higher inflation, central banks often boost interest rates, which can slow economic growth and demand for energy.

CRUDE PRICES WERE UP

Earlier in the day, crude prices were up as a winter storm marches across the United States, causing prices for natural gas , a heating fuel, to spike 10% on Monday, while diesel futures closed at their highest level since Oct. 7.

Crude prices also gained ground earlier in the session on a 1.1% slump in the U.S. dollar against a basket of other currencies following a newspaper report that President-elect Donald Trump was mulling tariffs that would only be applied to critical imports, potentially a relief for countries that were expecting broader levies.

The dollar, however, pared much of that decline after Trump denied the newspaper report.

A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar-priced commodities like oil cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

In China, the world's second-biggest economy, the yuan ended the domestic session at its weakest level in 16 months against the U.S. dollar, weighed down by trade concerns.

In a sign of firmer demand expectations, Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, raised crude prices for Asian buyers in February for the first time in three months.

Sudan, meanwhile, lifted a nearly year-long force majeure on the transport of crude oil from its neighbour South Sudan to a port on the Red Sea after security conditions improved

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 22:25

DOW

After being almost 400 points higher it finished 25 points lower

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 22:10

bamboo2

Thanks for the post, Maybe if you put your entry in a smaller size from 3 to 2 we would be able to see it in a much better form.
You can still edit when you have time.
hxxp://www.advfn .com/p.php?pid=legacydaily&epic=L^gdwn&type=4&size=3

[bamboo2] 06/1/2025 19:23

UPS

GDWN 7980.0 8060.0

Price to continue rising.
Volume rising.
Price rising above rising sma's.
Breakaway gap defines support zone.

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 16:45

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 16:22

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 16:11

FTSE 100 movers: Antofagasta boosted by upgrade; Rolls-Royce under the cosh
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,234.27 in afternoon trade on Monday.

Antofagasta surged after Canaccord Genuity upgraded the Chilean copper miner to 'buy' from 'hold'.

"The stock has pulled back over 30% from its peak of above 2,400p in May '24, and we think ANTO is starting to look attractively valued again," it said.

Ladbrokes owner Entain gained after Citi said that it and Flutter Entertainment were among its top picks in the sector for 2025.

Barratt Redrow was in the black as Redburn upgraded the housebuilder to 'buy'.

Rolls-Royce slumped as Citi downgraded its stance on the shares to neutral' from buy' on valuation grounds.

"Following a strong recovery from the depths of Covid, we believe Rolls-Royce shares are now approaching what we consider to be current fair value," it said.

"We have increased our target price to 641p, leaving some upside, but insufficient to remain buyers."

Unilever also fell after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'sector perform' and slashed the price target to 4,000p from 4,800p.

The bank said Unilever "hasn't the wherewithal" to boost volume performance sufficiently to achieve its 2% growth aspiration given its lack of market dominance, significant non-focus brands and markets (25%/15% of sales respectively), a less benign gross margin environment and record/intention of significantly lower capital investment than the competition.

It said the valuation is pushing towards best-in-class level that it thinks is unjustified and risk/ reward is weighted to the downside.

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 100.25p 6.47%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,670.50p 5.00%

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,140.00p 4.19%

Entain (ENT) 700.40p 3.55%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,424.50p 3.32%

Schroders (SDR) 330.00p 2.61%

Glencore (GLEN) 370.85p 2.56%

Spirax Group (SPX) 6,850.00p 2.47%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 430.40p 2.35%

Diploma (DPLM) 4,314.00p 2.28%


FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 565.80p -3.28%

WPP (WPP) 788.20p -3.17%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,217.00p -2.29%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,460.00p -2.21%

easyJet (EZJ) 530.00p -1.92%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 383.40p -1.82%

Admiral Group (ADM) 2,625.00p -1.65%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,137.50p -1.34%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 295.20p -1.24%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 11,285.00p -1.18%

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 15:33

Deserve to be on KEEP an EYE

VCP - Victoria 99p +14.30p

Very easily moving up on large volume today

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 15:14

BTC-Bitcoin $101,180 +2,830

Has managed to get over the important point once again

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 15:01

DOW

Opening with 242 points higher

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 13:39

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks mixed while UK firms warn of price rises

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mostly higher at midday on Monday, with investors mostly awaiting US inflation data in the afternoon.

As well as Monday's composite and services PMI readings, the first full trading week of 2025 has various jobs data releases from the US culminating in Friday's nonfarm payrolls.

More than half of UK companies plan to raise prices by early April, according to research by the British Chambers of Commerce. A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% of them expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll in the second half of 2024.

The survey also found business confidence has fallen since the spending statement, with 49% of firms saying they expect turnover to grow in the next year, down from 56% last year.

The group's Director General Shevaun Haviland, called the situation "a pressure cooker of rising costs and taxes".

"Last year's changes to the UK listing rules should make it more attractive for companies to list in London, which explains the widely held view that 2025 will be a much better year for IPOs," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented. "However, with business sentiment currently weak due to government decisions in the budget, we may have to wait until the second half of the year before the pace of UK IPOs starts to accelerate. Businesses are still getting their heads around new cost pressures and solutions need to be found before they rush into a stock market listing."

The UK service sector remained in growth territory in December, numbers on Monday showed, though it was a largely tepid final quarter of the year.

The S&P Global UK service purchasing managers' index rose to 51.1 points in December, showing accelerated growth from 50.8 in November but below the flash estimate of 51.4.

"Meanwhile, survey respondents were still cautious about the outlook for business activity in 2025...Service providers widely commented on concerns about cutbacks to business and consumer spending, alongside the impact of rising employers' national insurance contributions," S&P Global said.

The FTSE 100 index was up 10.62 points, 0.1%, at 8,234.60. The FTSE 250 was up 109.86 points, 0.5%, at 20,701.26, and the AIM All-Share was up 3.44 points, 0.5%, at 728.84.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 825.75, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 18,110.04, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 15,936.38.

Intermediate Capital led the FTSE 100, up 2.9%.

Experian was also among the winners, up 1.4%. RBC raised Experian to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' with a price target of 4,200 pence.

WPP and Unilever were the biggest losers, down 3.1% and 2.1% respectively.

UBS raised WPP's price target to 720 from 680 pence, keeping its 'sell' recommendation.

RBC cut Unilever to 'underperform' from 'sector perform' with a price target of 4,000 pence, cut from 4,800p.

"The FTSE 100 started the week on the back foot, dragged down by consumer non-cyclicals, basic materials and industrials," AJ Bell's Mould commented. "Share price weakness in big brand companies including Unilever, Reckitt and Haleon is often a signal that investors are worried about consumer spending and growing inflationary pressures. Renewed cost pressures may prompt companies to hike prices and this could see shoppers switch to cheaper supermarket own-brand items. It's a major risk for investors in big brand stocks to consider.

"Driving down the shares in the sector this time was negative broker comment as RBC downgraded Unilever to 'underperform', which hurt the Marmite maker and took its big brand peers down at the same time."

Ferrexpo led the FTSE 250, up 6.4%.

Bytes Technology came second, up 3.3%. Investec started its Bytes Technology ratings with 'buy' and a price target of 600 pence.

Raspberry Pi was the biggest loser, down 3.6%.

Diversified Energy was also in the red, down 2.5%.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based natural gas producer on Monday said it has acquired natural gas properties from Summit Natural Resources for around USD45 million. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2025.

The facilities have a current net production of around 12 million cubic feet equivalent per day and existing coal mine methane volumes with the opportunity to extend production, and 300 wells in Appalachia overlap with existing operations which allows for increased cash margins.

The company said it has an estimated 2025 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of USD12 million.

Among smaller caps, THG was up 9.9%.

The e-commerce firm announced that the Financial Conduct Authority has approved the transfer of its listing category to the equity shares (commercial companies) category, effective from Monday. This will make THG eligible for FTSE UK index inclusion.

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund gained 6.3%.

The London-based fund investing in utility-scale battery energy storage systems said trading has improved and it has made "solid progress", adding that it expects full-year operational portfolio revenues of around GBP42 million.

It sees operational portfolio earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of around GBP29 million in 2024, up from GBP25.8 million in 2023.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.8%.

The pound was quoted higher at USD1.2536 at midday on Monday in London, compared to USD1.2414 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood at USD1.0416, higher against USD1.0297. Against the yen, the dollar was trading flat at JPY157.31 compared to JPY157.33.

Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%.

Shortly before the end of his term in office this month, US President Joe Biden is pushing through far-reaching protections of US waters from further oil and gas extraction.

The two "presidential memoranda" issued on Monday exempt all areas of the outer continental shelf off the east and west coasts of the country, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and other parts of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska from future oil and gas production. They will be in force indefinitely.

Brent oil was quoted at USD76.50 a barrel at midday in London on Monday, up from USD76.33 late Friday.

Gold was quoted higher at USD2,644.65 an ounce, higher against USD2,641.67.

Still to come on Monday's economic calendar are the composite PMI, services PMI and factory order readings from the US this afternoon.

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 12:44

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 12:14

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 12:08

UPS

SFOR 32.82p (32.68 v 32.96 )

On the rise after reaching last week's low. The last results were OK and the next Q4 is a strong one. Shares trade on a low 6.2x FY25 P.E. and brokers have a very high target.
----------------- Intraday ------------------------------------------ 2 months ------------------------------- 1 year -------------------
INDICATORS

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 11:47

THG 46.58 +5.06p

THG makes move to commercial category of Official List

THG PLC - Manchester-based e-commerce retailer of consumer beauty and nutrition products - Says it has received approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority for the transfer of its shares to the equity shares (commercial companies) category of the Official List, from the equity shares (transition) category. The move came into effect on Monday, making the group eligible for inclusion on the FTSE UK index.

THG had previously planned to move to the 'premium' listing segment in London, with Founder & Chief Executive Officer Matthew Moulding clearing the way to do so by giving up his 'golden share' with its voting special rights in 2023. Since then, the FCA has made changes to its UK listing rules, creating the new categories.

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 10:38

GRID 47.70p (2.70 / 6%) -

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund PLC, up 6.0% at 47.70 pence, 12-month range 36.90p-106.30p.
The firm says it will reinstate dividends in 2025 once its current debt has been refinanced, as it adds the battery energy storage systems sector is "turning a corner".

In a trading update setting out a three-year plan, the London-based fund investing in utility-scale BESS says its future dividend policy will focus on three smaller quarterly distributions with a "final larger payment linked to performance".
Dividend payments were suspended in 2024 due to a volatile trading environment for BESS.

[spob] 06/1/2025 10:31

VCP strongly up - insider buying - 88p right now

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 10:13

UK service sector employment falls at fastest pace in nearly four years
(Sharecast News) - Business activity in the UK barely grew in December, while employment in the service sector fell at its fastest pace in nearly four years, according to a survey released on Monday.

The S&P Global services PMI business activity index nudged up to 51.1 from 50.8 in November. It was above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the fourteenth month in a row. However, it signalled only a marginal expansion of business activity.

Meanwhile, the PMI composite output index came in at 50.4 in December, down from 50.5 in November and the lowest reading since October 2023.

Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "The service sector ended last year with only a marginal upturn in business activity and a near-stalling of incoming new work. Survey respondents suggested that falling business and consumer confidence, largely due to worries about domestic economic prospects in 2025, had led to a considerable loss of growth momentum. While most parts of the UK service economy noted weak demand and cutbacks to client budgets, there remained pockets of strong growth in areas such as technology services.

"A post-Budget slump in business optimism persisted in December, with output growth expectations for the year ahead unchanged from November's 23-month low. Concerns about the impact of rising payroll costs, alongside a general unease about the climate for business investment, were reported as the main factors weighing on prospects for growth in 2025."

Moore said that faced with subdued demand conditions and hikes to employment costs, many service providers opted to curtail their staff hiring and delay backfilling roles in December.

"Nearly one-in-four survey respondents saw an overall decline in their payroll numbers. Excluding the pandemic, this represented the steepest pace of job shedding for more than 15 years," he said.

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 09:37

THG 43.40 +1.88p

On the Bounce after a large drop from 55p recently

[master rsi] 06/1/2025 09:02

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 opens in muted fashion before PMI data

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mixed on Monday, ahead of a week when US jobs data and eurozone inflation readings will be in focus.

On Monday, a slew of purchasing managers' index grab investor attention, meanwhile.

The FTSE 100 index opened down 17.45 points, 0.2%, at 8,206.53. The FTSE 250 was up 36.75 points, 0.2%, at 20,628.15, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.42 points, 0.2%, at 726.82.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 822.51, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% higher at 18,029.82, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.1% lower at 15,915.03.

The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.2% higher.

US stocks closed sharply higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%, the S&P 500 rose 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.8%.

Monday's global economic diary sees a raft of composite PMI releases. Later in the week a batch of US jobs data points will grab attention, culminating in Friday's nonfarm payrolls.

The pound was quoted at USD1.2469 early Monday in London, up from USD1.2414 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. The euro rose to USD1.0336 from USD1.0297. Against the yen, the dollar rose to JPY157.74 from JPY157.33.

A barrel of Brent faded to USD75.94 from USD76.33. Gold fell to USD2,627.74 an ounce from USD2,641.67.

Lloyds Bank analysts commented: "The first full week of 2025 will be a busy one on the economic data calendar, even though political dynamics are likely to continue to overshadow other news. In the US and UK the dominant theme is the labour market, whilst in the euro area attention will be on flash inflation for December. German inflation estimates are due today, with the euro area aggregate tomorrow which should see energy price base effects push the headline rate up 0.2ppts to 2.4% y/y. The core rate is expected to hold at 2.7% y/y though.

"Aside from Wednesday's Fed minutes the labour market focus starts with job openings tomorrow, ADP on Wednesday, jobless claims on Thursday and the monthly employment report on Friday where Lloyds economists expect headline payroll growth of 172k for December. Ahead of inauguration and in the context of Powell saying at the last FOMC meeting that further easing depended on further progress with the strength of the labour market and on inflation, even a weak employment report might not move market expectations that much."

Lloyds analysts added: "By contrast labour market indicators remain front and centre in the UK with the latest REC/KPMG and BoE Decision Maker Panel surveys due on Thursday. Last month the latter showed a sharp decline in employment intentions immediately following the budget. A similarly weak follow-up outturn could start to solidify more 2025 rate cut expectations."

The speaker of the US House said Sunday he was pushing an "aggressive" timeframe for getting a multi-trillion-dollar bill addressing immigration, tax cuts and more to Donald Trump's desk by April, within his first 100 days in office.

Speaker Mike Johnson and fellow congressional Republicans are eager to help the incoming president enact his campaign promises, including unprecedented border security spending, business deregulation, boosting energy production and raising the US debt ceiling.

But with a new razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives and similarly tight Senate margins, Democratic opposition could stymie the efforts.

In Tokyo on Monday, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.5%. It was the first day of trading this year in Tokyo. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney edged up 0.1%.

North Korea on Monday fired a missile just as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea, where he sought a stable course on foreign policy as political turmoil engulfs the US ally.

Blinken visited just as investigators were trying to arrest conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has entrenched himself in his residence after being impeached for a failed attempt to impose martial law.

In a reminder of common challenges that go beyond domestic politics, North Korea on Monday fired a ballistic missile into the sea just as Blinken was holding meetings in Seoul, according to the South Korean military.

"Our military detected one projectile presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile" launched toward the East Sea, South Korea's military said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

In London, Rolls-Royce shares were down 3.3%, the worst FTSE 100 performer. Citigroup cut the jet engine maker to 'neutral' from 'buy'.

RBC raised Experian to 'outperform' from 'sector perform'. Shares in the consumer credit checking score company were up 1.5%.

On the decline in the junior AIM market, Engage XR fell 14%. Engage XR warned revenue will come in below market expectations, due to delays in finalising some larger Middle East pacts.

The virtual reality technology company expects to report 2024 revenue of EUR3.4 million, down from EUR3.7 million in 2023, and below market expectations. This is due to "delays in finalisation of some larger contracts in the Middle East and the continued delayed deployment of the previously announced contract with a Middle Eastern client".

Its loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is expected to be EUR4.0 million, unmoved on-year.

It added: "Looking ahead, the group anticipates significant growth opportunities through working with partners in the Middle East throughout 2025 and beyond in both education and training verticals. The group's strong pipeline is evidence of the progress being made with partners in the Middle East and in the USA."