FTSE 100 Live: Stocks ease with Wall Street seen lower

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FTSE 100 down 12 points at 7,428
JD Sports is Berenberg’s top retail pick
Computacenter (LON:CCC) jumps after strong results
Planning permissions hit record low

Further evidence that the UK housing market is weakening with a report showing the number of planning permissions granted across England for new houses has fallen to a record low.

The Home Builders Federation said planning permissions continued to fall “sharply”, with the number of homes approved in first half of 2023 down by 19%.

The latest data confirms industry warnings that in the midst of an increasingly “anti-development” policy environment and worsening economy, the number of homes built in the coming years could fall to record low levels, said the HBF.

Around 2,456 projects were granted planning permission during the second quarter of the year, the lowest since similar records began in 2006, said the report.

This number is 10% lower than the previous quarter and 20% lower than a year ago.

Today, housebuilder Berkeley Group bemoaned the planning system which it said continued “to deter investment into brownfield regeneration and the wider housebuilding sector.”

CMC offers upside after recent falls

CMC Markets is enjoying a better today, up around 2%, although it us 56% lower year-to-date.

Last month, the online trading and platform technology group said in August trading and investing net revenues trended 20% lower year-on-year with “markedly lower monetisation of client trading activity due to a higher proportion of lower margin institutional volume”.

RBC Capital Markets said: the drop-off in volatility seen year-to-date has been untimely for CMC as it has coincided with a period of elevated cost owing to investment in strategic initiatives.

But the broker sees valuation support from the high proportion of market cap now covered by surplus own-funds.

RBC has cut net operating income forecasts by 18% on average following the trading update and lowered its price target to 140p from 250p.

This offers upside from the current share price of 102.40p and RBC has reiterated an outperform, speculative risk rating.

Flat start expected in the US

Across the pond now, and it looks like a subdued start on Wall Street, on as tensions rise in the relationship between the US and China.

Investors also continue to mull the possibility of a further US interest rate increase following a batch of robust economic data this week.

In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% lower, while those for the S&P 500 fell 0.1%, and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.1%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) recovered its poise after a two-day fall which saw close to $200 million wipred off its market value.

Reports that China could limit the usage of iPhones sparked the falls highlighting the ongoing friction between he companies over access to technology.

Neil Wilson at markets.com is “not convinced a full bazooka is on the cards – for instance an outright Apple product ban doesn’t seems very unlikely.”

“It’s no coincidence that Huawei is back with a new flagship device just before Apple launches the iPhone 15 – Beijing will be happy to let rumours do the rounds to nudge consumers into buying China not America,” he said.

“However, we can also see it perhaps through the lens of the broader tit-for-tat between the US and China, so won’t necessarily be forgotten soon and it will not be immaterial in terms of sales for Apple,” he added.

Elsewhere, Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve’s vice-chair for supervision, will speak about payments innovation at the Philadelphia Fed’s annual fintech conference.