Markets roundup with corporate news

(ARTICLE WRITTEN BY LINCOLN MICALLEF)

Market Summary

European Markets closed in the green on Thursday as they digested Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's remarks on Brexit. Carney stated the central bank will not be able to "prevent the weaker real income growth," which will come as the country leaves the European Union, but noted the BoE will try to mitigate the impact of Brexit by influencing how the "hit to incomes is distributed between job losses and price rises."

The FTSE 100 added 0.13%. The best performer was CRH which increased 2.74%. The DAX rose 0.37%. Deutsche Bank led the gains as it climbed 2.68%. The CAC 40 increased 0.22%. TechnipFMC contributed most to the performance as it jumped 3.46%.

HSBC

A new app by HSBC will allow U.K. customers to manage bank accounts with different providers, including Barclays, Lloyds and Bank of America, in a major step towards meeting new European Union rules. On Thursday the retail lender said that it will introduce the HSBC Beta app from late October and will be initially available for 10,000 HSBC clients, however it is to expand its availability to U.K. population in early 2018 since it is still in a stage of development. The head of personal banking stated that through the app their customers have a complete view of their financial life and is easier for them to choose confidently, taking the hassle out of checking dozens of statements and manually calculating what's left. The app is also designed to add current accounts, loans, mortgages and savings set up with other banks.

H&M

The Swedish apparel retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB, better known as H&M, were down 5.5% with the shares dropping for their biggest loss in more than a year. The move came after the fashion retailer published disappointing earnings report in third-quarter pretax. H&M Chief Executive stated that its growing online sales didn’t compensate for reduced stores in some of its established markets, causing total sales development not reaching the targets of this year. He also said that while the move helped shift inventory and clear the way for its new autumn range, sales decelerated toward the end of September. Fast fashion retailers are under pressure by the move to online sales, forcing them to invest in delivery and logistics at a time when price competition is increasingly fierce.

Snap

Snap Inc has racked up 10 million monthly users for its Discover news and video feature in France after examining ways to boost up a slowing growth rate and increase advertising revenue for its Snapchat messaging app. Apart from France, which is the first international launch of Discover, the company has also released it in Germany, the Middle East and North Africa, however it is taking a cautious approach to expansion as it works at developing strong partnerships with publishers. In August, Snap Inc has revealed that the Snapchat app has 173 million daily active users internationally. The company has yet to turn a profit as shares are down to almost 18 percent since its initial public offering in March.