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Business - Need to Know

Afternoon Edition

Greece has completed a €200 million payment to the International Monetary Fund today. Athens is also scheduled to pay £750 million on May 12, but fears remain that it will not be able to scrape together enough money to make the payment, which could lead to the country being declared bankrupt. In a glimmer of light, Greece sold €1.138 billion of six-month Treasury bills this morning, successfully covering the amount it sought to raise in the first of two auctions this month testing its ability to find funds.

Elsewhere in the eurozone (and unrelated), German, Spanish and Italian borrowing costs have hit 2015 highs this morning as a global sell-off in government bonds, caused in part by easing deflation fears and investor weariness with ultra-low yields, accelerated. However, market participants are still struggling to fully explain the moves, Reuters reports.

For the latest on Greece and all of the market movements log on to our Business Now live blog.

In the UK, there were emotional scenes in court this morning, as the Hounslow trader accused of helping wipe hundreds of billions off Wall Street shares broke his silence after he was told his £5 million bail would not be waived despite a US order freezing his worldwide assets. The US decision means he has no way to pay his bail.

Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, threw his arms in the air and protested his innocence as he was led out of court and told he would remain behind bars until a £5 million security was paid.

"I've not done anything wrong apart from being good at my job. How is this allowed to go on, man?" said Mr Sarao as he was returned to custody. Harry Wilson, our City Editor who was in court this morning, has the story here.

With less than 24 hours to go until the voting booths open, the coalition government has been offered a small boost after data pointed to a strong services sector in April. A jump in the services PMI for April from 58.9 to 59.5, the best reading in eight months, was better than expected. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. Philip Aldrick, our Economics Editor, has the details here.

Back in Europe, Brussels has confirmed today that it will conduct a “comprehensive” investigation into search engines, social networks and other big internet companies. The European Commission said it wanted to “tear down regulatory walls” to ensure that the bloc moved from 28 digital markets to one. James Dean, our Technology Correspondent, has the details here.

Finally, on the corporate front, GlaxoSmithKline shares have jumped 1 per cent after it said it was retaining its holding in its HIV joint venture ViiV, “reflecting updated strong positive outlook”. Investors had expected it to float its stake. However, earnings fell 16 per cent to 17.3p per share. There’ll be more from the investor day on our live blog from Deirdre Hipwell who is there.

Don't forget you can also follow me on Twitter for regular updates throughout the day - @becclancy.

Have a great day.

Rebecca Clancy
Breaking News Editor, Business
The Times
rebecca.clancy@thetimes.co.uk

London’s leading share index edged up from yesterday’s one month-low as investors waded through a thick wedge of company trading updates. Sentiment was also buoyed by a strong pick-up in the UK services sector and Greece making its latest payment to the IMF.

The FTSE 100 gained 8 points to 6,936.32 with Imperial Tobacco, the maker of Gauloises and Lambert & Butler, among the biggest risers, up 94p to £32.14 after the manufacturer said it remained on track to hit full-year expectations despite a slump in sales in the first half of its financial year.

Turning to other top risers, Sage Group, the software company, was up strongly, 29¼p to 525¾p, on decent first-half results, and Legal & General rose 3p to 260½p on a big rise in cash generation.

At the other end of the Footsie, J Sainsbury was the biggest faller, 9.7p lower to 265½p, after it posted its first loss in a decade.

Alex Ralph
Market Reporter

The iPhone6 seems to be luring smartphone users away from Android devices. The number of people using Apple's iOS software rose 6.9 per cent, year-on-year, compared with a 4.8 per cent fall for Android, according to quarterly data from Kantar Worldpanel.

ADP, the private payrolls processor, is expected to report that private firms added 200,000 jobs last month, a rise from the 189,000 jobs added in March. The report, which often gives an early indication of the official Labor department jobs figures on Friday, is published at 1.15 pm BST.

In a separate report, out at 1.10pm BST, the Labor department will release data on first quarter productivity in American non-farm businesses. Analysts polled by Reuters expect productivity costs to have fallen 1.8 per cent over the quarter.

SkyBridge Capital, the global investment firm founded by Anthony Scaramucci, hosts the hedge fund industry's largest conference, the SALT Hedge Fund Conference, in Las Vegas. Attendees are likely to include prominent hedge fund managers including Daniel Loeb and former policymakers such as Ben Bernanke, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Janet Yellen, the Fed's current chairwoman, and Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, will both take part in an event at the Institute for New Economic Thinking's conference on finance and society, hosted by the IMF in Washington, today.

Tesla, the electric carmaker, is likely to give an update on construction of its battery plant in Nevada, as well as updates on demand for its Model S car in China, which has been disappointing, and details on the rollout of its Model X SUV. Analysts expect a loss per share of 50 cents, against a loss of 12 cents in the year ago period. Sales are expected to come in at $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared with $713 million a year ago.

Twenty-First Century Fox reports third-quarter results after the closing bell. Investors will be watching for the effects of the growing shift of viewers to online streaming. Wall Street is expecting earnings per share of 39 cents, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, compared with 47 cents per share last year. Revenue is forecast to come in at $6.9 billion, down from $7.35 billion last year.

Whole Foods Market is advertising for the first time and lowering its prices in an attempt to take on competition from rivals such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Market and Trader Joe's, as well as mainstream retailers such as Kroger Co and Wal-Mart. Analysts are expecting earnings per share of 43 cents, up 13 per cent from last year, and revenue of $3.705 billion, up 11 per cent from the same period a year ago.

Markets: Futures suggest a mixed start to the day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones is expected to open up 42 points at 17,906, the S&P to rise 4 points to 2,088, and the Nasdaq to open down 0.25 points at 4,407.25.

Alexandra Frean
US Business Editor
@freanie

"I don't believe our customers' shopping habits will be affected by who's elected tomorrow."
Carol Kane, joint chief executive of Boohoo.com, is upbeat about the online fashion boutique after posting half-year profits of £11.1 million, up by just 3 per cent.
Today's FTSE 100 risers and fallers
Up (%)
The Sage Group 5.74
Imperial Tobacco Group 3.01
St James's Place 2.92
Mondi 2.01
Dixons Carphone 1.78
* As at noon
Down (%)
J Sainsbury -3.52
Antofagasta -2.31
Aberdeen Asset Management -2.21
Admiral Group -1.91
Coca Cola HBC -1.83
* As at noon
The Markets Today
FTSE 100 6,936.32 0.13%
FTSE 250 17,445.18 -0.04%
Cac 4,998.28 0.49%
Dax 11,410.93 0.73%
Brent Crude 69.69 2.08%
Gold 1,188.50 -0.39%
GBP/US 1.5228 0.32%
GBP/euro 1.3551 -0.13%
10Y Gilt 126.979 0.02%
* As at noon
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