A flurry of good earnings reports for UK companies

Investors are still adopting a wait-and-see attitude ahead of today's Fed monetary policy decision. The FTSE 100 was down 0.15% yesterday in a quiet session, weighed down by a gloomy IMF forecast for the British economy, and is up 0.2% this morning after a series of good corporate earnings.

Pets at Home gained 8.3% yesterday after the company raised its profit outlook for the full year. Entain rose 2.2% this morning after the gambling firm raised its annual profit guidance.

ITV was up 3.5% after Reuters reported that Hollywood producer Peter Chernin and French TV production group FL Entertainment had expressed interest in the British broadcaster.

Darktrace climbed 2.4% after the cybersecurity company announced share buybacks.

However, Vodafone fell 2.4% after the company said a decline in revenues in Europe showed “we can do better”. However, it reiterated its full-year profits guidance.

Investors are focused on the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting today, betting on a 0.25% rate hike.

In other news, annual house price growth slowed to 1.1% in January, Nationwide said.

 

Things to read today:

Stagflation or Soft Landing? It Depends Who You Ask (NYTimes)

UK pushes ahead with plans to bring crypto under mainstream regulation (Financial Times)

It's Not Easy Being a Stock Market Villain (Bloomberg)