London pre-open: Investors have a glint in their eye (gold)
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Tuesday 22 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - Stocks in London were set for a softer start following another difficult session for US dollar assets the day before amid what some in markets had dubbed the 'sell the US' trade.
That was prompting a bit of a rusk into gold and helping to push sterling higher.
FTSE 100 futures were slipping by 35 points to 8,255.0 as of 0647 BST.
In parallel, gold futures were jumping 1.85% to $3,488.70/oz., whilst cable was edging up 0.14% to 1.3398.
Worth noting was market commentary the day before regarding shifts by Chinese investors from US Treasury debt into euro denominated alternatives.
So too reports that the White House was looking to see if it was feasible for the executive arm to replace the head of the central bank, the Federal Reserve, which would constitute an attack on its independence - should it be a real threat - thus undermining the Greenback.
DCC divesting unit, Sainsbury buying back shares
DCC said it has agreed to sell its healthcare division to HealthCo Investment, an independently managed unit of funds managed or advised by Investindustrial Advisors for a total enterprise value of £1.05bn. The company on Monday said it expected total expected net cash proceeds of £945m, including an unconditional deferred amount of £130m receivable within two years, and would return surplus to shareholders "while maintaining a strong, investment-grade balance sheet".
J Sainsbury announced the launch of a share buyback programme of up to £200m on Tuesday, as flagged in its results announcement last week, aiming to complete it by 12 September. The FTSE 100 retailer said it intended to cancel all repurchased shares to reduce its share capital. It said BNP Paribas would conduct the buyback independently under non-discretionary instructions, in line with shareholder authority granted at the annual general meeting in July last year.
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