National Express HY Loss Narrows

Public transport company National Express Group Plc. (NEX.L) reported that its loss attributable to equity shareholders for the six months ended 30 June narrowed to 25.2 million pounds or 5.8 pence per share from 92.8 million pounds or 17.3 pence per share in the previous year.

Underlying profit before tax was 0.1 million pounds compared to a loss of 60.7 million pounds in the prior year.

Group revenue was 992.4 million pounds, a decrease of 39.1 million pounds or 3.8% from last year. On a constant currency basis, group revenue increased by 1% year-on-year.

Looking ahead, the company expects a positive outlook as its services play an increasingly important role in tackling climate change, assisting economic recovery, and improving social mobility, and it has good visibility around a number of potential growth opportunities driven by these trends.

Merck profit nearly halves on Organon spin off

(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc on Thursday reported a 49% fall in second-quarter profit after it spun off its women’s health and biosimilar assets into Organon in June.

Tokyo's daily coronavirus infections hit new record of 3,865

TOKYO (Reuters) – Newly reported coronavirus cases in Tokyo surged to a record high of 3,865 on Thursday, the metropolitan government announced.

On Wednesday, the Olympic host city registered 3,177 new coronavirus cases, while nationwide, new cases hit a record 9,570, the health ministry said.

Gold Hits Over One-week High On Dovish Fed

Gold prices rose about 1 percent on Thursday to hit over one-week high and the dollar slipped to one-month low after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell rejected the likelihood of an immediate tapering of the bond buying program.

Spot gold jumped 0.9 percent to $1,823.24 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 1.3 percent at $1,823.25 per ounce.

Following the Fed’s slightly hawkish monetary policy announcement, Powell said that the economy is “still a ways off” from reaching a standard of “substantial further progress” to withdraw stimulus measures.

Powell’s comments on inflation and job growth also suggested that “there is still a long way to go” for the Fed to consider a shift in policy.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate voted to push forward a bipartisan infrastructure plan amounting to $550 billion, which includes funding for roads, bridges, broadband and other physical infrastructure.

The five-year spending package would be paid for using COVID-19 relief funds, illegally paid unemployment benefits during the crisis and unutilized federal unemployment funds.

In economic releases, U.S. GDP data for the second quarter, due at 8:30 am ET, is expected to show an annualized growth of 8.5 percent, up from 6.4 percent in the previous quarter.

Pending home sales for June and weekly jobless claims figures for the week ended July 24 are also due in the New York session.

Oil Extends Gains After Sharp Inventory Drop

Oil prices rose on Thursday to extend gains from the previous session after overnight data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed U.S. crude inventories resumed a downward trend last week.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose about half a percent to $74.23 a barrel in European trade, while U.S. crude futures were up 0.6 percent at $72.80.

The EIA report showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell by 4.089 million barrels last week, over a million barrels up from an expected drop of about 2.9 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories dropped by 2.253 million barrels last week, more than twice the expected draw, the data showed.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 3.088 million barrels, much more than an expected drop of 435,000 barrels.

The drawdown in crude inventories to their lowest level since January 2020 raised optimism that supplies will remain tight despite the production hikes set by OPEC+.

These stocks rose for the first time in nine weeks the previous week, prompting concerns that demand was peaking in the world’s largest consumer.

Meanwhile, traders shrugged off separate data showing that India’s crude oil imports dropped to their lowest level in eight months in June.

Crude oil imports dropped 7.8 percent from May as refiners cut down processing in the face of a tumultuous second wave of the coronavirus, data on the website of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed.

M.D.C. Holdings Q2 Results Climb, Top Market Estimates – Quick Facts

Homebuilder M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (MDC) reported Thursday that its second-quarter net income climbed 83 percent to $154.35 million or $2.11 per share from $84.40 million or $1.21 per share a year ago.

Home sale revenues grew 54 percent to $1.37 billion from last year’s $886.76 billion.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $2.01 per share on sales of $1.35 billion for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Home sales revenue growth was driven by a 43 percent increase in unit closings and an 8 percent rise in average selling prices.

Looking ahead, the company projects home deliveries for the third quarter between 2,500 and 2,700 units with average selling price between $510,000 and $520,000.

For the year 2021, home deliveries are expected between 10,000 and 11,000 units.