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Business - Need to Know

Afternoon Edition

There is another boost for George Osborne this morning. Britain’s factories grew at the fastest rate in eight months in March on the back of robust domestic demand and a pick-up in export orders.

Promising the government a pre-election boost, manufacturing activity continued its rebound from a slow few months, according to the closely-watched monthly purchasing managers’ index. The improvement was driven by the biggest rise in new business since July 2014. Philip Aldrick, our Economics Editor, has more here.

Despite the positive economic news, the pound has slipped further and is now trading below $1.48. Log on to our Business Now live blog for more on the markets.

Profits at Asos, a one-time stock market darling, have slumped by 10 per cent as the online fashion retailer cut prices. Asos, which issued three profit warnings last year amid a tumultuous period heightened by a fire at a warehouse, said pre-tax profit fell to £18 million in the six months to February 28, down from £20.1 million during the same period the year before. Alex Ralph has more here.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter for regular updates throughout the day - @fletcherr.

Richard Fletcher
Business Editor
The Times
richard.fletcher@thetimes.co.uk

The stock market is rallying hard on the first day of the new quarter, with the Footsie 66 points higher at 6,839. Signs that manufacturing in the eurozone is picking up speed is helping, too.

Financial shares, the banks and insurers, often in demand when investors have appetite for risk, are rallying hardest. Lloyds Banking Group is up tuppence at 80.25p, further encouraged by a Jefferies upgrade. Credit Suisse was positive about Barclays, up 9p at 251.5p. And Morgan Stanley, after meetings with the UK’s lenders, was positive about them generally.

However, bearish research from JPMorgan Cazenove is weighing on the miners. Glencore, whose target price Caz trimmed from 260p to 250p, is 2.75p easier at 283.25p.

Gary Parkinson
Market Reporter

The weak euro is helping to boost manufacturing in the eurozone, according to Markit's latest purchasing managers' index.

GoDaddy, the leading provider of web registration and hosting services with 59 million domains, raised $440 million last night by offering 22 million shares at $20, above its initial range of $17 to $19, valuing the company at around $4.5 billion. Shares start trading on the New York Stock Exchange today. GoDaddy was acquired by a private equity consortium led by KKR and Silver Lake in 2011. The company added more than 1.1 million customers in 2014.

Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, reports second-quarter results before the opening bell. The company, which makes Roundup, the world's most widely-used herbicide, is seeking to allay concerns that a key ingredient could cause cancer after an international health organisation linked glyphosate to the disease. Investors will be looking for more details on that and comments on the company's progress on new products. Analysts are expecting earnings per share of $2.92, down from $3.15 per share in the year-ago quarter, and revenue of $5.78 billion, down from $5.83 billion for the same quarter last year.

Hiring by private companies is expected to have picked up in March, an early indication of a more upbeat overall employment report due on Friday. The ADP National Employment Report, out at 1.15pm BST, is expected to show that private employers added 225,000 jobs last month, up from 212,000 jobs in February.

Car and truck-makers will report US sales for March today. Analysts expect the reading to be flat or slightly down from last year. However, on an annual basis, sales are expected to be strong in the month at 16.8 million-17 million vehicles. Investors and analysts want to see if the industry rebounds from a disappointing February when cold and snowy weather hurt sales.

Construction spending data for February is released at 3pm BST. Analysts expect an increase of 0.3 per cent, against a fall of 1.1 per cent the previous month, as upticks in non-residential and public spending offset a decline in single-family residential spending.

The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index for February is also released at 3pm. Analysts expect a reading of 53, against 52.9 the previous month, with moderating weather and less disruption from the west coast dock dispute offset by weak exports due to the strong dollar.

Markets: Futures suggest an uncertain day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones is expected to open up 3 points at 17,706, the S&P to fall 1.50 points to 2,059.25, and the Nasdaq to rise 1.25 points to 4,330.75.

Alexandra Frean
US Business Editor
@freanie

At the request of the company, trading on AIM for the under-mentioned securities has been temporarily suspended from 01/04/2015 9:40am, pending an announcement and publication of an document
Quindell's announcement to the stock market two days after the controversial insurance claims company announced a conditional sale of its professional services business to Slater & Gordon
Today's FTSE 100 risers and fallers
Up (%)
Barclays 3.42
Tui 3.28
Royal Dutch Shell B 2.35
Lloyds Banking Group 2.31
GlaxoSmithKline 2.19
* As at noon
Down (%)
Kingfisher -1.73
J Sainsbury -1.23
Antofagasta -0.88
Glencore -0.80
Randgold Resources -0.78
* As at noon
The Markets Today
FTSE 100 6,839.13 0.98%
FTSE 250 17,138.56 0.28%
Cac 5,104.59 1.41%
Dax 12,094.79 1.07%
Brent Crude 56.20 -0.02%
Gold 1,183.44 0.03%
GBP/US 1.4771 -0.3%
GBP/euro 1.3726 -0.55%
10Y Gilt 131.339 -0.02%
* As at noon
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