The FTSE 100 closed down 0.23% on Tuesday thanks to a negative lead from Asia, though it still outperformed its mainland European counterparts. While the market rebounded somewhat from sharp opening losses, it is still difficult to determine an overall direction, CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson says. Today's biggest losers were in basic resources, which had underpinned yesterdays' FTSE gains, highlighting the currently mercurial nature of the market, Hewson says. "While investors want to believe a narrative that can see equity markets move higher, any optimism is being tempered by the prospect that rising prices, as well as supply-chain disruptions, may well negatively impact profit margins, as well as prompting a consumer slowdown," Hewson says. 


 
Companies News:

YouGov Says FY 2021 Revenue, Adjusted Operating Profit Rose

YouGov PLC on Tuesday said that it expects revenue for fiscal 2021 to have risen by 11% and that strong sales momentum continued in the first months of its fiscal 2022.

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Enwell Energy 3Q Production Rose Around 11% From Year Earlier

Enwell Energy PLC said Tuesday that its overall production volumes for the third quarter from its gas and condensate fields in Ukraine rose by around 11% from a year earlier.

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Carr's Group CEO Hugh Pelham Steps Down to Pursue Other Interests

Carr's Group PLC said Tuesday that Chief Executive Hugh Pelham has stepped down from his role and will leave the group with immediate effect to pursue other interests.

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YouGov Buys Technology Company Rezonence for Undisclosed Sum - Deal Digest

ACQUIRER: YouGov PLC

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GSTechnologies Appoints Bai GuoJin as CEO

GSTechnologies Ltd. said Tuesday that it has appointed Bai GuoJin as chief executive officer with immediate effect.

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Maestrano Group FY 2021 Pretax Loss Widened on Higher Costs

Maestrano Group PLC said Tuesday that its pretax loss widened in fiscal 2021 on increased costs, but that it is confident about a continuation in the current growth trend into fiscal 2022.

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Light Science Technologies to Raise GBP5 Mln in AIM Float

Light Science Technologies Holdings PLC said Tuesday that it plans to raise 5 million pounds ($6.8 million) of new money as part of its initial public offing on London's junior AIM, with trading expected to start Friday.

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EasyJet Fourth-Quarter Headline Loss Halves -- Second Update

EasyJet PLC said Tuesday that its headline loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 halved compared with the same period last year, and that it has moved to positive cash generation.

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GlaxoSmithKline Fields Interest in GBP40 Bln Consumer Unit -Bloomberg

--GlaxoSmithKline is planning to split off its consumer unit and the company's advisers are informally fielding interest and preparing for a listing, Bloomberg reports.

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Big Tobacco Is Spending More Time Fighting Over Patents -- Heard on the Street

Less risky nicotine products like heated tobacco sticks were meant to help cigarette companies stay out of court. Instead, they are causing a spike in patent lawsuits.

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Blackstone to Invest $1 Billion in Music Rights -- Update

Blackstone Inc. plans to invest $1 billion in acquiring music rights and managing catalogs, a move the asset manager said will benefit from the rapid growth of online streaming. 


 
Market Talk:

Jet2's Business Model Will Drive Postpandemic Market Share Gains

1244 GMT - The strengths of U.K. leisure-travel group Jet2's business model will be increasingly appreciated post-Covid-19, and will drive market-share gains, Jefferies says. The company's flexible business model benefits from a more limited capital commitment than its peers, no retail footprint, prompt payments to its suppliers and it doesn't rely on customer deposits for underlying business operations, the U.S. bank says. Moreover the company not taking any new aircraft until after summer 2022 at a time when Europe's aviation market is experiencing overcapacity will allow it to reach faster-to-market changes. "Any future industry structural changes--deposit ring-fencing, hotelier pressure on payment terms, changing brand loyalty--will be further tailwinds for Jet2's growth," the bank says. Jefferies rates the stock buy and has an 1,800 pence target price.

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Pearson Likely to Report Mixed Message in 3Q Results

1205 GMT - Pearson's third-quarter results, due Friday, will highlight a key quarter given the back-to-school selling season, says Exane analyst Sami Kassab. The education publisher is likely to report good performance from its Virtual Schools--representing around 15% of group revenue--and a potentially positive message from the U.K. National Tutoring Programme will benefit Pearson's Global Assessment Division, Kassab says. That said, the North American Courseware division is likely to be hit by missed licensing revenue due to Chegg and the initial launch of Pearson+, and industry contacts have been wary over any college enrolment growth. "Overall, we expect management to reaffirm it is on track to deliver on consensus expectations," Kassab says. Shares are down 0.9% at 737.6 pence.

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Marks & Spencer's Outlook Improves, Though Hurdles Linger

1158 GMT - Marks & Spencer Group's prospects are improving, says Bank of America as it upgrades its recommendation on the U.K. clothing and food retailer to neutral from underperform and its price target to 190 pence from 150 pence. At an investor event last week, M&S management reported progress with its recovery plan and showed rising confidence, BoA says. "The faster-than-expected recovery post-pandemic, the resilience in food and the significant sales acceleration in clothing also mean M&S profit could be back to [its] 2019-20 level as soon as FY 2023," BoA analysts say. "Uncertainties, however, still remain in M&S's ability to execute while shorter-term concerns about disruption, especially in clothing, are here to stay, hence our neutral stance." Shares rise 1.9% to 176 pence.

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EasyJet's Pick Up in Business-Travel Demand Is Encouraging

1028 GMT - EasyJet reporting a pick-up in demand from business travel is encouraging and may point to companies cutting costs and telling staff to switch to cheaper airlines, Russ Mould of AJ Bell says. Moreover, the airline has said that the recovery is underway, with losses narrowing and bookings strong enough to warrant increasing capacity for the rest of 2021. Still, the airline needs to get back on the path to normality as there is only so long it can sustain hefty losses, Mould says. "A GBP1.2 billion rights issue has given it some breathing room on the financial front, and it is encouraging to see the company generate positive operating cash in the three months to the end of September," he says.

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-12-21 1204ET